WUNRN
TV SHOW FOR ARAB WOMEN TO LAUNCH IN OCTOBER – “Nida’a”
(The Calling) – Zainab Salbi Host
Zainab
Salbi - COURTESY DISCOVERY COMMUNICATIONS
By International Correspondent@NickVivarelli – July 9, 2015
Discovery
Communications-owned pay network TLC is launching a chat show for Arab women, its first local program for the Middle
East, which marks a breakthrough of sorts.
Hosted by
Iraqi-American humanitarian, activist and reporter Zainab
Salbi, “Nida’a,” which means “the calling” in Arabic, will launch in
October across the Middle East and North Africa on TLC, on Dubai-based paybox
OSN, the region’s leading pay-TV player.
Salbi, who
is the founder and former CEO of Washington-based Women for Women
International, has lined up interviews with several notable international and
Middle Eastern personalities, including Bill
Clinton, fashion designer Donna Karan and Egyptian actress Yusra.
“Nida’a” is being presented as giving Arab women “a voice and
platform, and diverse topics such as women’s issues, current events, pop
culture, entertainment, food and fashion are all covered in front of a studio
audience,” TLC said in a statement.
“The ‘Nida’a’ show aims at inspiring, supporting and empowering
young Muslim and Arab women to achieve their full potential in society,” it
quoted Salbi as saying.
“It provides high quality entertainment and current affairs
content with a fresh, engaging and intelligent tone, reflective of young women
in the Middle East today,” she added.
While talk shows targeting women are nothing new in the Middle
East, most notably Kalam Nawaem’s “The View” on MBC, “Nida’a” will mark the
first one produced by a U.S. media conglomerate.
TLC is the world’s top woman’s pay TV brand with almost 400 million global subscribers.