Capital Connection to be tri-anchored from London, Bahrain and Singapore
London and Manama, 14 March 2010: CNBC, First in Business Worldwide, announced today at the Bahrain Grand Prix, that it will create a regional editorial hub in Bahrain to cover the Middle East. The facility is expected to be operational in the second quarter of the year.
The hub will coordinate and produce business and financial newsgathering from the Middle East, with a studio and production facility linked to CNBC's global network. CNBC is in the process of recruiting an on-air presenter, reporters and production staff in the region.
The hub will contribute to CNBC's pan-regional programme Capital Connection, which will become tri-anchored live from London, Bahrain and Singapore, four days a week.
The show's remit will be to help global viewers understand the impact of market movements across European, Asian and Middle Eastern borders - on their portfolios, investment strategies and business decisions.
The new Capital Connection will broadcast from London, Bahrain and Singapore Monday to Thursdays airing between 06.00 - 07.00 (CET); 08.00 - 09.00 (AST); 12.00 - 13.00 (HK/Sing) and on Fridays will be co-anchored from London and Singapore. The new programme's launch date will be announced in due course.
The new show's global reach is considerable, broadcasting to 65 countries and more than 165 million households on CNBC in Europe, the Middle East and Africa, in Australasia, New Zealand, on CNBC Africa and CNBC World in the United States.
CNBC's popular half-hour monthly programme Gateway to the Middle East, will also be produced from Bahrain. Since 2007 the show has spoken with the leading voices from the region, giving viewers insight into business trends and investment opportunities.
Mick Buckley, Managing Director EMEA at CNBC said, "Bahrain offers the ideal location for CNBC's hub, as the country's infrastructure and location enables us to effectively cover the news from Qatar, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and other major centres in the region.
"We are now well positioned, working with CNBC Arabiya our local-language affiliate channel based in Dubai, to tell the Middle East's business story to regional and global viewers in Arabic and in English," concluded Buckley.
Across the EMEA region, CNBC reaches more than 640,000 viewers a day and seven million viewers a month (EMS 2009), making it the leading business and financial news channel.
Shaikh Mohammed bin Essa Al Khalifa, Chief Executive of the Bahrain Economic Development Board (EDB), welcomed the news saying, "I am delighted that CNBC has chosen Bahrain as its regional hub. Our location as the gateway to the Gulf, skilled national workforce, and liberal business environment has attracted many international companies. For a major media organisation to choose us reflects the high priority we place on openness and the steps taken to create an environment conducive to doing business in and from Bahrain."
The EDB has responsibility for formulating and overseeing the economic strategy of the Kingdom and creating the right climate to attract foreign investment. Bahrain's Vision 2030 and the National Economic Strategy are designed to drive the private sector as an engine of growth, support further diversification of the economy, and ultimately elevate national living standards by creating greater opportunities for Bahrainis.
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About CNBC in EMEA:
CNBC, First in Business worldwide, is the leading global broadcaster of live business and financial news and information, reporting directly from the major financial markets around the globe, with three regional networks in Asia, EMEA and the US. In EMEA, CNBC is the only real-time, pan-regional business and financial news network dedicated to CEOs, senior corporate executives, the financial services industry and investors. The channel is available in approximately 110 million homes, 1,400 banks and financial institutions and leading hotels across Europe, the Middle East and Africa. Additionally CNBC.com gives you access to live streams of all three CNBC regional networks and to the world's most comprehensive archive of business news videos ever assembled. CNBC is a wholly owned subsidiary of NBC Universal. NBC Universal is the broadcasting unit of the General Electric Company (GE).
For further information, please contact:
Hugo Foulds at CNBC
+44 (0)7920 821 835
Middle East
Alex Blake Milton, Brunswick
+971 4 365 8263
Europe
Sally Payne / Richard Lambert at Braben
cnbc@braben.co.uk
+44 (0)20 7025 8021
© Press Release 2010
