ARISE.TV, a new 24-hour global TV news network, was yesterday “soft launched”, and will be broadcasting from centres in Lagos, Johannesburg, London and New York ahead of its official unveiling next month.
Founded by leading Nigerian media tycoon Nduka Obaigbena, who is the publisher of Nigeria’s most influential and biggest daily newspaper ThisDay, ARISE.TV is expected to have a strong footing in Africa as it intends to extensively cover the African continent through in-depth analyses by some of the top media experts handpicked from across the globe.
The media personalities in ARISE.TV’s team include Rob Beynon, a former executive producer with ITN and Sky News, who will now be international head of operations at ARISE NEWS.
Others include Lyne Pitts, a former vice president of NBC News and an executive producer with CBS America, who will now be heading up the US operation, and Jeff Koinange, a former CNN Africa reporter and Emmy award winner, who will be based in Johannesburg as a correspondent and Africa’s chief editor.
According to the team, ARISE.TV is set to rival CNN and BBC, the global giants in news, and will mainly concentrate in covering the underserved communities in Africa, the United States and other parts of the world.
“Wherever and whenever there is a major breaking news story, we will cover it aggressively, especially on the under-reported continent of Africa,” said global editorial director David Glencorse.
ARISE.TV will be available on cable, satellite and Internet. The company is still negotiating other major distribution deals across the globe.
