Al Jazeera scouts for creative and media agencies

The size of the account is estimated to be Rs 4 crore.

Qatar-based news channel Al Jazeera has initiated a creative as well as media pitch process. The process, which began around a couple of weeks ago, is currently underway in Mumbai.

The pitch is specifically for a new, international English TV network scheduled to be launched in India by the end of this month. Sources inform that Al Jazeera plans this launch through DishTV.

The total media budget for this launch is pegged at Rs 4 crore.

afaqs! further learns that one round of presentations has just been wrapped up; this round was creative-heavy, strategy-heavy and also drew on the participating agencies' media plans for the account. Some agencies have been filtered out at the end of this round. The next round, slated to begin soon, will have the remaining agencies present to the company's management team.

It may be recalled that in July, afaqs! had reported that the Al Jazeera news network had appointed the media consultancy firm, Aidem Ventures to handle its media sales. With the development, the media consultancy won the media sales duties for all channels of the network including Al Jazeera English (AJE), and its other flagship channels -- Al Jazeera Arabic, Al Jazeera Documentary, and Al Jazeera Mobasher, in India.

Also, in December 2010, the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting granted a down-linking license to Al Jazeera English, a development that allowed the channel to begin its broadcast in India.

Sources further confirm that a PR pitch for this account is simultaneously underway in Mumbai.