SRMG, Warner Bros. Discovery Partner to Launch 'Asharq Discovery'

SRMG CEO Jomana al-Rashid and Warner Bros. Discovery General Manager Jamie Cooke after signing the new partnership (Asharq Al-Awsat)
SRMG CEO Jomana al-Rashid and Warner Bros. Discovery General Manager Jamie Cooke after signing the new partnership (Asharq Al-Awsat)
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SRMG, Warner Bros. Discovery Partner to Launch 'Asharq Discovery'

SRMG CEO Jomana al-Rashid and Warner Bros. Discovery General Manager Jamie Cooke after signing the new partnership (Asharq Al-Awsat)
SRMG CEO Jomana al-Rashid and Warner Bros. Discovery General Manager Jamie Cooke after signing the new partnership (Asharq Al-Awsat)

The Saudi Research and Media Group (SRMG), the MENA region's largest media group, entered into a long-term partnership with Warner Bros. Discovery to launch 'Asharq Discovery,' a new Arabic language channel exclusively for audiences in the Middle East North Africa (MENA) region.

Asharq Discovery will be the newest addition to SRMG's fast-growing media and international offerings.

Asharq Discovery aims to connect audiences in the Middle East and North Africa region with the world while providing content that tells unique Arabic content and presents unique experiences and memorable stories that allow audiences a step outside their established media consumption habits.

The partnership comes in the context of the MENA expansion strategy of Warner Bros. Discovery and SRMG's growth strategy, brought together by a shared goal of diversifying content and improving its accessibility, and help propel MENA's maturing entertainment industry to become one of the largest globally.

General Manager for CEE, Middle East, and Türkiye, Jamie Cooke, indicated that the entertainment industry in the MENA region is experiencing a fantastic transformation and exponential growth, providing opportunities for content players and consumers.

Cooke explained that after establishing the Discovery brand in linear channels, and successfully launching Discovery+ last year, "we believe launching a new FTA channel in MENA with the homegrown powerhouse, SRMG is a solid step for us to build a 360 ecosystem of entertainment."

"This partnership will also support our MENA business development strategy to increase our presence in KSA," he asserted.

SRMG CEO Jomana al-Rashid said that the new strategic collaboration with Warner Bros. Discovery would further enhance the group's ability to provide more dynamic and innovative Arabic content through multiple formats and platforms.

"This partnership is a further demonstration of SRMG's unrelenting focus and commitment to its consumer-centric approach; bringing our audiences engaging and premium content - when, where, and how they want it," said Rashid.

She indicated that Discovery has an unrivaled legacy of producing cutting-edge, high-quality documentaries.

"We look forward to working together to deliver co-commissioned quality content, provide new job opportunities and best-in-class training, and tap into a new global network for our growing audiences."

Asharq Discovery will offer thousands of hours of premium content, including originals, premieres, and exclusives, across a wide selection of genres spanning pop science and engineering, motoring and turbo, wildlife and nature, adventure and travel, reality and lifestyle, crime mystery documentaries.

Warner Bros. Discovery and SRMG have earmarked co-productions of high-quality local programming to be distributed globally through the Discovery Global network, adding more cultural and market relevance to the mix.

Asharq Discovery is set to be launched to MENA users in 2023 through broadcasts, streaming, and third-party local apps, with a catch-up facility available on over-the-top (OTT) platforms.



Aloha, Bavaria! Munich Surfers Riding Wild River Wave Again

Aloha, Bavaria! Munich Surfers Riding Wild River Wave Again
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Aloha, Bavaria! Munich Surfers Riding Wild River Wave Again

Aloha, Bavaria! Munich Surfers Riding Wild River Wave Again

Surfing enthusiasts have cheered the reopening of a beloved whitewater site in downtown Munich, the German city better known for partying at Oktoberfest than splashing in the waves.

The Eisbach ("ice brook") standing wave in the city's Englischer Garten park was closed after tragedy struck in April when a 33-year-old woman drowned during a nighttime winter surf.

After a safety review and a petition to keep it open, the site -- just a stone's throw from an art museum and shopping streets -- was reopened by authorities in recent weeks.

Putting on a wetsuit and taking a board out of its bag after a day's work, Moritz, 43, said he's a regular at the surf spot on an arm of the Isar river.

"It's amazing. A wave right in the city center is something very special," he said. "I missed it during the closure."

Nearby, surfers performed tricks with virtuosity on the powerful wave, formed by the presence of rocks on the riverbed near a bridge.

"It's completely different from the ocean," said Moritz.

"Even if you know how to surf very well in the sea, you don't necessarily know how to do it here where the water comes from the front and not from behind."

Another surfer, Irina, 34, said she tries to come three times a week, "before work, because it gives you energy".

She finds "the power of the wave is good" and said she feels safe at this unique spot, even if "there are rocks at the bottom and you have to be a little careful when you fall".

A German surfer lost her life during a night session in April after being trapped underwater for nearly 30 minutes, her leash caught on an unidentified object.

Friends and emergency services rushed to help her, but she died a week after her accident.

An investigation found no safety breaches on the part of the city or state, which had always warned surfers to attempt the challenge "at their own risk".

New guidelines have, however, been issued: night surfing is banned between 10:00 pm and 5:30 am, and the minimum age for braving the wave is 14.

Surfers must also use a system that allows their leash to be detached in case of emergency.

These rules are "largely reasonable", said Franz Fasel, head of the local surfers' association IGSM, who said between 3,000 and 5,000 local surfers use the Eisbach site.

"Surfing is simply part of the lifestyle in Munich," he said. "Not just for the surfers themselves, but also for the city's image."

It was not always this way. In the past, the Eisbach wave was entirely natural and surfable only occasionally, for example, when gravel accumulated in the riverbed.

Surfers took matters into their own hands in the 1980s, installing a river crossing and adding objects to improve the wave, not all well received by the authorities.

The site is now promoted by the tourist office as one of Munich's top attractions.

Bavaria's state premier Markus Soeder proudly declared during a recent visit that "Munich is a surfer's paradise" and Bavaria "a bit like the California of Germany".