Newsweek to launch Middle East edition

Newsweek LLC has signed an exclusive licensing partnership with ARY Digital Network – an Urdu language television network – to publish Newsweek Middle East, a localised newsweekly magazine that will be available in both English and Arabic. The launch of Newsweek Middle East will mark the eighth international edition of the publication, which is currently distributed across Japan, South Korea, Latin America, Montenegro, Poland, Serbia and the UK.

“Newsweek represents high quality journalism and there is a global demand for that,” says Etienne Uzac, Co-Founder and CEO, IBT Media, parent company of Newsweek LLC. “We are thrilled to partner with ARY Digital Network to launch Newsweek Middle East and continue to build the Newsweek brand in the Middle East.”

This partnership marks the ARY Digital Network’s entry into print media. Empirical Media, which pursues and facilitates foreign license partnerships to publish Newsweek in targeted markets, served as an advisor in the formation of Newsweek Middle East.

Salman Iqbal, Founder and CEO of ARY Digital Network adds, “I am very pleased to announce this long-term partnership with IBT Media and the launch of Newsweek Middle East. Newsweek Middle East will be published in English and Arabic with region-specific content, offering award-winning reporting and commentary from some of the top writers in the Middle East and the world.”

The first issues of Newsweek Middle East will be available in Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, the UAE and Bahrain. The English version is due to launch by June 2015, followed by the Arabic version.