Sky News Arabia appoints new CEO

Abu Dhabi-based Sky News Arabia has appointed Angelos Frangopoulos as its new CEO and managing editor, it announced on Tuesday.

He replaces Nart Bouran, who stepped down from the role in January after seven years as CEO.

In his new role, Frangopoulos will handle the company’s global programming operations for all its broadcast, digital and radio platforms.

He will be responsible for the strategic direction, business growth, digital expansion, commercial performance and editorial guidelines of the Arabic language news organisation, a statement said. He will also be responsible for setting the company’s editorial direction.

Frangopoulos, who will join Sky News Arabia later this year, currently serves as the CEO and managing editor of Australian News Channel (ANC), a joint venture between Sky Plc, Nine Network Australia and Seven Network Australia.

Under his leadership, ANC developed from a single channel in 2000 into an 11 channel organisation. ANC, which was acquired by News Corporation in December 2016, now operates Sky News Live, Sky News Business, Sky News Weather, Sky News Extra, SkyNews.com.au, Fox Sports News, Sky News New Zealand and the Australia Channel OTT service for international markets.

Frangopoulos’s appointment comes after Sky News Arabia announced earlier this week that Hani Abu Ayyash would serve as its head of News.

Abu Ayyash, who had been the acting head of News since January 2018, will manage all content production on Sky News Arabia’s TV, website and social media platforms, as well as Sky News radio broadcasting via internet and shortwave.

Sky News Arabia, a 24-hour Arabic language news organisation, is a joint venture between Abu Dhabi Media Investment Corporation (ADMIC) and the UK-based Sky Plc.

It is broadcast to 50 million households and employs more than 500 staff across the Middle East, London and Washington.

Sky Plc. Group COO and board member of Sky News Arabia, Andrew Grifith said: “In just over five years, Sky News has become one of the top news channels in the Middle East and beyond and we look forward to further expanding the channel’s reach as we continue to deliver news to and from the region.”

Frangopoulos added: “Digital innovation is critical to the global growth of any media business, especially so in a region where younger and highly technologically literate audiences are the key demographic.”