Gulf DTH which owns and operates the Showtime pay-TV platform in the Middle East, is relocating its headquarters and broadcast center operations from London and Cairo to Dubai, United Arab Emirates (UAE).
The move will consolidate the network’s broadcast operations which are currently split between a purpose built facility at the MTV/Viacom studios in Hawley Crescent, London, and a complementary uplink centre at 6th October City, Cairo.
Sony Professional Services has been selected as the system integrator for the network operations center with Digital Video Broadcast systems from Harmonic, Omneon providing central server and ingest operations hardware and Pebble Beach Systems supplying playout automation equipment.
Showtime broadcasts 50 channels of predominantly Western entertainment to the Middle East and North Africa from the NileSat position. The network also has customer contact centres located in Dubai, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Egypt and Jordan.
Located in Dubai Media City (DMC), the Showtime headquarters and transmission center is expected to be operational by June. It will ultimately accommodate over 400 staff. The 50,000 square feet facility will also house the network’s headquarters operations including sales and marketing activities and advanced call centre and online customer service functions. — (menareport.com)
© 2004 Mena Report (www.menareport.com)
