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Showtime to set up headquarters in DMC

DUBAI Showtime, the leading pay-TV network in the Middle East and Africa region, will establish its headquarters in Dubai Media City (DMC). Target date for the project to be operational in the first quarter of 2004.

Initially, Showtime will relocate both its play-out and up-linking operations from Cairo, Egypt, and its sales and marketing activities currently operating in Dubai to a 50,000 square feet purpose-built headquarters in DMC.

Later, technical and production operations will transfer from London to the Dubai Media City headquarters which will be able accommodate 400 staff.

Ahmad bin Byat, Director-General of the Dubai Technology and Media Free Zone Authority, said: "We are delighted that Showtime has chosen to establish its new headquarters at DMC."

He said it is the first satellite bouquet operator to choose DMC as its base and the decision is strategically important because it confirms DMC has established itself as an international media hub. "Showtime has ambitious growth targets and I am confident that DMC will provide the infrastructure and world class working environment to realise those plans," he said.

Peter Einstein, Showtime president and chief executive, said: "We have watched the phenomenal pace of development at DMC as it has progressively established a dominant position as a global media hub.

Einstein said the Showtime facility will feature a multi-million dollar state-of-the-art broadcast and transmission centre to be operational in early 2004, together with advanced call centre and online customer service functions. Einstein said the move brings Showtime in to the heartland of the creative community that is growing rapidly within DMC. "We look forward to contributing a major element to the creative edge that DMC is giving Dubai and the region," he said. DMC will provide up-link services for Showtime's channels to two transponders on the NileSat 102 satellite, with services to a third transponder being added in the future.

Einstein said Showtime has signed a distribution deal with the Dubai Technology and Media Free Zone to provide premium TV entertainment alongside broadband Internet and IP telephony to homes and offices across the campus.

Earlier this month Showtime launched its Online Services centre via the www.showtimeonline.tv portal, offering subscribers immediate access to all customer service requirements.

Showtime Online Services will also be managed from its facility at DMC.

Showtime is the trading name of Gulf DTH which is a joint media venture between the Kuwait Projects Company (Holding) and Viacom Inc.