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flannel_flannel 26/02/2015 10:21 Page 1 EUROMEDIA DIGITAL MEDIA INTELLIGENCE PUBLISHER AND EDITOR-IN-CHIEF Nick Snow [email protected] MANAGING EDITOR Colin Mann [email protected] CONTRIBUTING EDITOR Chris Forrester [email protected] PUBLISHING ASSISTANT Nik Roseveare [email protected] ART EDITOR Steve Overbury [email protected] COLUMNISTS Vivek Couto Larry Gerbrandt Steve Gold CONTRIBUTORS Robert Briel - Amsterdam Dieter Brockmeyer - Frankfurt Gail Chiasson - Toronto David del Valle - Madrid Chris Dziadul Pascale Paoli-Lebailly - Paris Philip Hunter Joe O’Halloran Farah Jifri Branislav Pekic - Rome SALES DIRECTOR Sanjeev Bhavnani [email protected] PUBLISHED BY Advanced Television Limited Unit N202 Westminster Business Square 1-45 Durham Street London SE11 5JH Tel: [phone] www.advanced-television.com PRINTED BY Headley Brothers Ltd The Invicta Press Queens Road Ashford Kent TN24 8HH, UK Tel: [phone] Fax: [phone] [email protected] In this first issue of 2015 we take our annual look at Middle East media. Given the on-going trials of the region it is, in some ways, a surprise to report another year of good progress in sectors such as pay-TV, DTH and, even, production. Of course, much of the investment is focused on the Gulf and it is hard not to pigeon-hole some of the projects in the vanity box. Having said that, we have been some businesses that appeared at first to be no more than sovereign flag wavers that have, eventually, proved themselves useful and even potentially profitable. Meantime, audience demand for good and local content is high across the region and producers are doing their best to establish, or re-establish, vibrant local broadcasters and production to meet it. Elsewhere, we report on the great political divide in America as the FCC prepares to declare broadband a Title II service, i.e. a utility and, thereby, guaranteeing its ubiquitous and equal supply to all; the basic principle of Net Neutrality. The level of opposition from cable companies and Republicans is such that it will struggle to survive in such a pure form into legislation, even with the exp