Al Arabiya to launch new subtitled service via English website

The Al Arabiya News Channel is set to launch a state-of-the-art subtitling service via its English-language website (www.alarabiya.net/English) that will allow its English-speaking audiences to follow its Arabic news bulletins and programmes. The service will be enabled using a new instant translation technology.

The new service, called ‘View More’, is set to be launched during the first “Al Arabiya News Global Discussion” forum, which will be held on November 30. The forum, conducted in English, will host an international group of political, cultural and media personalities.

Abdulrahman Al-Rashed, General Manager of the Al Arabiya News Channel, which this year celebrates its 10-year anniversary, says  that “The new subtitled video service on the English website will grant Al Arabiya a cutting edge, allowing us to broadcast simultaneously in several languages and enhance our presence on additional platforms,” Al-Rashed commented.

“In the past ten years, Al Arabiya became renowned for its unique coverage of the region and the world, as well as its exclusive interviews, and with the launch of this service, we will enable millions of viewers to benefit from our rich content in their own language and through their preferred platforms,” he added.

The translated broadcast service, which is one of many features of Al Arabiya’s redesigned English website, will provide a number of key news bulletins and programs, fully subtitled in English, one hour after their original broadcast time in Arabic.

Users of the site will also be able to search the Al Arabiya News Channel’s entire 24-hour output in English, with the ability to download video clips and see subtitles showing translations of the original Arabic broadcasts.

With the launch of the new service, Al Arabiya will become the first TV channel to use this service, employing technology pioneered in the United States.

Faisal J. Abbas, Editor-in-Chief of the English-language Al Arabiya News website, said the new design and features of the site “seek to answer the needs of the modern internet browser, in the era of apps and handheld devices”.

He added: “On behalf of the web team, I would like to thank the channel’s management for their confidence and vision which enabled us to provide this service, and I would like to thank our colleagues at the technical department and operations for the great efforts in making this service available”.

The “Al Arabiya News Global Discussion” will be held in Dubai, where the channel is headquartered, under the theme of “Bridging the communication gap between East and West”.

The forum will consist of two panel discussions: the first will discuss political lobbying and how Arabs can be better at it globally, while the second will examine the Western media’s coverage and understanding of the Arab world. The forum will also host a special expert session entitled “What it means to be a regional spokesperson?”

The forum will gather a number of distinguished panelists and speakers, including: HRH Princess Rym Ali, founder of the Jordan Media Institute in Amman; Dr. Adel al-Toraifi, Editor-in-Chief of the Asharq Al Awsat newspaper; Chris Doyle, the director of The Council for Arab-British Understanding (CAABU); Adrian Monck, managing director and head of communications and media at the World Economic Forum; Professor George Brock, Head of Journalism at City University in London; Khaled al-Maeena, Editor-in-Chief of the Saudi Gazette newspaper; Joshua Baker, the U.S. Department of State’s regional Arabic-language spokesperson; Rosemary Davis, regional spokesperson for the UK’s Foreign and Commonwealth Office; Talal al-Haj, the New York/U.N. Bureau Chief for the Al Arabiya News Channel; and Hisham Melhem, Al Arabiya’s Bureau Chief in Washington, DC.

The invitation-only forum coincides with the tenth anniversary of Al Arabiya News Channel.