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Moby Media Group

Moby Media Group (Pashto: د موبي ډله/Dari: گروه موبی) is the largest media company in Afghanistan.[1] Moby Group is privately owned, with headquarters in Kabul and 15 bureaus throughout Afghanistan. The company also has an office in Dubai, where regional business is conducted.

History

Moby Group was founded by Afghan entrepreneur Saad Mohseni with the start-up help of United States government money and with a cash injection from News Corporation, led by his friend Rupert Murdoch.[2] The company has partnered with Voice of America in Afghanistan, and the US government has continued funding some of its broadcasts.[3][4][5]

Mohseni is an Afghan-Australian who returned to his native Afghanistan in 2002. He is the founder and chief executive officer of Moby Group. Based in the Afghan capital Kabul, as of 2023 the company employs over 1200 staff across 16 businesses.[6]

In 2015, the Taliban labeled TOLO TV a 'propaganda network'.[7]

In 2016, its subsidiary Lapis was paid AU$1.6 million for promoting a "anti-refugee" film commissioned by the Australian Department of Immigration. The film was also broadcast on TOLO TV.[8][9][10] Besides Afghanistan, Moby Group also has offices in the UAE, Pakistan, and Ethiopia.

Group structure

The company has three divisions:

  • Moby Media Group, with the broadcast brands TOLOnews, TOLO TV, Lemar TV, Arman FM, Kana TV, Barbud Music, Kaboora, Toot and Darya streaming service, along with production, media distribution, talent management, print media and directories.[11]
  • Moby Technology Group, which operates technology companies Afghan ITT and 456 in the IT&T and Interactive voice response arenas.
  • Moby People Group, which includes the advertising agency Lapis and the AndeshaGah Internet café chain.

See also

  • Internet in Afghanistan
  • Communications in Afghanistan
  • Mass media in Afghanistan

External links

References

  1. Saad Mohseni Is Afghanistan's First Media Mogul National Public Radio, retrieved 2010-09-06^
  2. Graham Bowley. An Afghan Media Mogul, Pushing Boundaries The New York Times, 2013-07-27, retrieved 2021-09-01^
  3. VOA to Broadcast in Afghanistan on MOBY GROUP channels – ABU retrieved 2021-09-01^
  4. Heidi Vogt. What an Afghan News Outlet’s Early Encounters With the Taliban Tell Us About the Country’s Future POLITICO, retrieved 2021-09-01^
  5. Maria Abi-Habib. U.S. Courts Afghans Through Television Wall Street Journal, 2010-11-17, retrieved 2021-09-01^
  6. About us mobygroup.com, retrieved 2023-06-08^
  7. Taliban Target Afghan TV Networks RadioFreeEurope/RadioLiberty, retrieved 2021-09-01^
  8. Adam Gartrell. Former refugee paid to promote Dutton's anti-refugee telemovie The Sydney Morning Herald, 2016-04-02, retrieved 2021-09-01^
  9. Josh Drummond. You Will Not Make Australia Home: Watching 'Journey', Australia's terrible anti-asylum-seeker propaganda film The Spinoff, 2016-05-06, retrieved 2021-09-01^
  10. Danae Leivada. Australia Wants To Scare Away Migrants With A Movie HuffPost, 2016-03-29, retrieved 2021-09-01^
  11. Content mobygroup.com, retrieved 2023-06-08^