News Broadcasting
Al Jazeera tops Forbes’ list of top 40 Arab brands
MUMBAI: Forbes has compiled its list of the top 40 Arab brands based on extensive international survey measuring brand loyalty and consumer perception. Al Jazeera ranks number one in Forbes Arabia’s list, followed by Emirates, Almarai and Al Arabiya Media. Overall, companies from eight countries made the final cut. Represented industries include media, airline, retailing, real estate development, leisure, food and beverages, and cosmetics.
Forbes Arabia is the Dubai-based Arabic edition of the business magazine Forbes. Arab companies that cater to markets throughout 19 Arab countries were eligible for the list. To identify the Top 40 Arab Brands, Forbes Arabia factored in customer perception, and how well companies adapt their brand to a changing market environment.
Forbes Arabia editor-in-chief Sulaiman al-Hattlan says, “With competition heating up in Arab countries, brands have become an effective way for a company to distinguish itself from competitors in terms of image and product offerings. The key question for those building Arab brands is how to think globally and act locally. The first of its kind, the Forbes Arabia Top 40 Arab Brands list looks at companies that have created strong brands not only in Arab countries, but that are also gaining recognition worldwide” .
An online survey was conducted for Forbes Arabia by UK market research firm YouGov that drew on consumers from Algeria, Bahrain, Egypt, Iraq, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Libya, Mauritania, Morocco, Oman, the Palestinian Territories, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Sudan, Syria, Tunisia, the United Arab Emirates, and Yemen.
The Forbes Arabia research team ranked each brand by giving points to how well customers recognised, and trusted each Arab brand, and how well companies adapted their brand to a changing market environment to service their customers.
News Broadcasting
CNN-News18 to air live counting day coverage for five state election results on May 4
The channel is rolling out its biggest election coverage machinery yet for results day on 4th May
NOIDA: The votes have been cast. Now comes the reckoning. CNN-News18 is pulling out all the stops for results day on 4th May, when counting begins across five battleground states — West Bengal, Assam, Kerala, Tamil Nadu and the Union Territory of Puducherry — in what promises to be one of the most closely watched electoral verdicts in recent memory.
The channel’s coverage, titled Battle for the States: The Verdict, kicks off at 7am and runs through the day across linear TV, connected television and YouTube. It is the culmination of CNN-News18’s multi-format editorial initiative, Battle for the States, which has tracked the polls from the beginning under the theme Road to Power.
At the operational heart of the coverage will be the Live Results Hub, the channel’s central command centre built to collate, verify and process real-time data flowing in from reporters stationed at counting centres across constituencies. The hub combines newsroom intelligence, analytics and on-the-ground reporting to deliver what the channel promises will be the fastest and most accurate results coverage in English news.
Leading the on-air charge will be primetime anchors Rahul Shivshankar, Anand Narasimhan, Aman Sharma, Nabila Jamal and Shivani Gupta. They will be joined by a wide panel of commentators including author Chetan Bhagat; GVL Narasimha Rao, senior leader of the BJP; Smita Prakash, editor of ANI; activist Saira Shah Halim; political analyst Sumanth C Raman; Abhijit Iyer Mitra, senior fellow at IPCS; Amitabh Tiwari, founder of VoteVibe; columnist Abhijit Majumdar; Nalin Mehta, managing editor of MoneyControl; political analyst Tehseen Poonawalla; senior journalist Subir Bhaumik; and political analyst Manojit Mandal.
Shivshankar, who serves as editorial affairs director at CNN-News18, set out the stakes plainly. “Counting day is one of the most watched events in the electoral cycle, where speed and credibility are tested in real time,” he said. “Battle for the States: The Verdict is built on that promise, combining ground reporting, sharp analysis and cutting-edge election technology to give viewers the clearest and fastest route to the verdict. On May 4, CNN-News18 will once again be the nation’s most trusted channel to witness democracy in action.”
Smriti Mehra, chief executive of English and Business News at Network18, framed the coverage in broader terms. “Elections are defining national events, and audiences turn to brands they trust in moments that matter,” she said. “CNN-News18 has consistently led from the front in every election coverage, and this special programming reflects the scale of our ambition and editorial strength.”
The channel has form here. It claims to have been India’s most preferred English news destination for election results for the past 20 years, covering everything from the 2024 general elections to the Delhi, Maharashtra, Bihar and BMC polls on the back of what it calls an “Always First, Always Right” record. Five states, one day, and a nation waiting for answers. The clock starts at 7am on 4th May.
