About Us
Times of Oman is the oldest and the leading English daily newspaper published in the Sultanate of
Oman. Times of Oman has an overarching goal of providing reliable news along with information and entertainment.
Description
Founded in 1975 as a tabloid news weekly, Times of Oman became a broad-sheet daily in 1990. Essa bin Mohammed Al Zedjali is the Chairman and Editor-in-Chief of Times of Oman. The newspaper is brought out by
Muscat Press & Publishing House SAOC.
Timesofoman.com is the online arm of Times of Oman Newspaper with hard news as its core offering and interactivity as its key component. Along with a plethora of mobile- and multimedia-enabled content, Timesofoman.com is a multi-platform offering that, for the first time, provides viewers/users an opportunity to contribute to the news process and interact.
The Newspaper is printed daily with 52 pages with a blend of black and color pages and is distributed mainly in the member countries of the Gulf Cooperation Council. It has a wide readership within and outside Oman.
Headquartered at a world-class facility in Muscat, the Newspaper is supported by team of experienced newspersons and production staff of Online, backed by MPPH's state-of-the-art infrastructure and news gathering technology.
Times of Oman is the only newspaper in the Sultanate to have an online e-paper timesofoman.com which has a huge readership. Among many achievements to its name, Times of Oman is also an international award winner of 36 highly prestigious SND awards in the area of design and presentation.
Besides National news, Times of Oman carries International, Sports, Business and Feature sections. The most popular column in the newspaper is the Viewpoint written every Sunday by its Editor-in-chief and Chairman Essa bin Mohammed al Zedjali. A THURSDAY magazine is distributed with the paper every weekend. A light reading stuff of Hi Times is distributed every Friday instead of the normal serious-reading edition. (
Wikipedia) - Times of Oman
Times of Oman Type Daily |
Format Broadsheet |
Owner(s) Muscat Press and Publishing House SAOC (MPPH) |
Founder(s) Essa bin Mohammed Al Zedjali |
Publisher Muscat Press and Publishing House SAOC (MPPH) |
Founded February 1975 |
Language English |
Headquarters Ruwi, Muscat, Oman |
Circulation 195,000 (2014) |
Sister newspapers Al Shabiba |
Website http://www.timesofoman.com |
Times of Oman is a daily newspaper published in the Sultanate of Oman, where it is one of the leading publications. Established in 1975, it is the oldest English-language paper of Oman. Apart from daily news on local, regional, international, business and sport interests, Times of Oman provides information on topics such as entertainment, fashion and lifestyle, education, information and technology, health and books.
Contents
- 1 History
- 2 Ownership
- 3 Platforms
- 3.1 Newspaper
- 3.2 Electronic devices
- 3.3 Supplements
- 3.4 Sister publications
- 4 Awards and Recognitions
- 4.1 Society for News Design (SND) Creative Competition
- 4.2 WAN-IFRA Asian Media Awards
- 4.3 Malofiej Infographic Awards
- 4.4 World Press Cartoon
- 4.5 Communication Arts Magazine Competition Annual
- 4.6 Society of Illustrators Annual Competition
- 4.7 Society of Publication Designers (SPD) Annual Competition
- 4.8 HOW Magazine International Design Award
- 4.9 Type Director''s Club Annual Competition
- 4.10 Creative Quarterly Journal Design Competition
- 5 References
History
Times of Oman was first published on February 23, 1975 and was launched as a weekly tabloid newspaper. by the known Pakistani journalist Rana N. Parveze. It is published by the Muscat Press and Publishing House SAOC (MPPH), which is also behind publications such as Al Shabiba, Hi Weekly and Sabbat Ayam. The main reasons for starting Times of Oman were to publicize Oman abroad and to address non-Omanis in the country. This explains why the newspaper dedicates more pages to news about the Indian Subcontinent since the majority of expatriates in Oman are from that region. In 1991, the Omani paper became a broadsheet daily. A reader survey in 2013 stated that amongst the English dailies in Oman, Times of Oman was favored by 5.4% of the respondents followed by Oman Tribune (2.7%). The least read newspapers were the newly launched Muscat Daily and Oman Daily Observer.
Ownership
The Muscat Press and Publishing House SAOC (MPPH) is a publishing house in the Sultanate of Oman, established in 1975 by Essa bin Mohammed Al Zedjali. The publishing house is behind a number of different publications from broadsheet dailies to tabloid weeklies and monthlies as well as weekly magazines both in Arabic and English. Apart from Times of Oman, the Muscat Press and Publishing House is the publisher of the Arabic-language newspaper Al Shabiba launched in 1993. In 2004 Muscat Press and Publishing house became the first in the GCC countries to develop an online edition for its daily newspapers Times of Oman and Al Shabiba. In 2008 WAP editions of the newspapers were made available on cell phones.
Platforms Newspaper
The paper is published six days a week from Saturday to Thursday. The website is also updated every day in every hour. The newspaper is organized in three sections. The first section, section A, contains pages of local news, regional news, news on India and Pakistan and world news. It also has a commentary section with perspectives from respected political analysts and opinion writers. It also features a reader’s forum. Section B is a Market, Business and Finance section bringing news on local, regional and international financial matters. It also contains a Life and Style part in addition to entertainment pages with crosswords, daily horoscope, airlines and bus schedules. The back pages are dedicated to Bollywood news and feature articles. The C section focuses on national and international sports. The D section, called Connect, is the daily guide for the inhabitants of Oman with local ads and classifieds. The newspaper, printed daily with pages varying from 44 to 52 pages, is a blend of black and white and color pages.
Electronic devices
In 1998, Times of Oman launched their website, which additionally made MPPH the first publication house in the region to develop a website for news information . In December 2012, the Times of Oman website was redesigned to include more sections for news coverage in the local department and across the globe. The website gets 2,29,377 visitors in September month and has shown growth of 75% in a 9 month period. The average visit duration is 5.44 min in September 2013 The Times of Oman e-paper was launched on October 4, 2004. In 2007, Times of Oman launched its first mobile application for iPad and smart phones. Times of Oman''s Facebook page became active in the beginning of 2013. By August 2013 it had almost 10,000 ''likes''. Times of Oman''s Twitter page had more than 3,000 followers in August 2013.
Supplements
Thursday magazine was launched on November 18, 1999. It is a family magazine, which comes out with the main edition of Times of Oman every Thursday. The magazine’s main focus is on topical and cover stories and special features, but also on subjects such as healthcare and beauty tips, crime, romance, travel, parenting, fashion and cooking. The magazine targets readers among expatriate and Omani working women as well as housewives.
Times of Oman also publishes the annual magazine on Home Decor titled Heavenly Homes and a cook-book named Art of Cooking.
Sister publications
- Hi Weekly, launched on March 30, 2007, is a freely circulated weekend newspaper in tabloid format. It consists mainly of light-reading content and is distributed every Friday instead of the daily paper. Hi offers in-depth analyses of international events as well as an informative and investigative approach to local events and issues ranging from civic amenities to social responsibilities, culture, heritage, arts, literature, beauty, fashion, environment, business and sports.
- Faces is a monthly magazine of Times of Oman, which targets business expatriates, working professionals and the local Omanis that fall in the 18-35 age group. It features stories on local personalities, reviews on movies, books, and restaurants, in depth editorial content on international news, health, fashion, relationship, food, travel gizmos and more. Faces is freely distributed with Times of Oman with 20,000 copies reaching the newspaper’s subscribers, hotels, cafes, health clubs, corporate offices, government bodies, ministries, travel agencies and more. Supported by its online presence, Faces now reaches out to a pan-Gulf audience.
- Al Shabiba (Arabic)
- Sabbat Ayam (Arabic)
- Al Khazina (Arabic)
- Al Sayraat (Arabic)
- Sahah wal Jamal (Arabic)
- Mustaqbal (Arabic)
- Black & White (English)
Awards and Recognitions
- The late founder and editor-in-chief of Times of Oman, Essa bin Mohammed Al Zedjali was posthumously awarded the "Pen of Press Prize" by the Council of Gulf International Relations (COGIR) on April 17, 2013.
- timesofoman.com won Gold Award at the 2006 Oman Web Awards and Bronze Award at the 2007 Pan Arab Web Awards.
- MPPH is the first media company in Oman and the second in the Gulf region to have been awarded the ISO 9001:2008 certifications, which is an internationally recognized standard for quality management systems.
- Times of Oman has bagged the top two awards at the Oman Football Association''s Annual Award Ceremony (2014).
- Times of Oman and its sister publications have won more than 275 international creative awards, making MPPH as the most awarded media organization in the Middle East and African region. Times of Oman made history as the first Middle Eastern newspaper to win Gold Award from the prestigious Society of News Design (SND) annual competition and also from Malofiej Infographic Awards, considered as the Pulitzer Prize of information graphics. In the 35th edition of SND competition, Times of Oman ranked no. 1 in the most number of awards, the first non-American newspaper to achieve such feat.
Society for News Design (SND) Creative Competition
Year Publication Category Award Number
2011 | Times of Oman | Sports page | Silver | 1 |
| | Business pages | Judges Special Recognition | 1 |
| | Page design | Award of Excellence | 35 |
| Al Shabiba | Page design | Award of Excellence | 8 |
| | | | 45 |
| | | | |
2012 | Times of Oman | Page design | Gold | 2 |
| | News page | Silver | 1 |
| | Business pages | Judges Special Recognition | 1 |
| | News pages | Award of Excellence | 41 |
| Hi Weekly | Page design | Award of Excellence | 1 |
| Al Shabiba | Page design + Graphics | Award of Excellence | 4 |
| | | | 50 |
| | | | |
2013 | Times of Oman + Graphics | Page design | Award of Excellence | 27 |
| Hi Weekly | Page design | Award of Excellence | 1 |
| Al Shabiba | Page design + Graphics | Award of Excellence | 4 |
| | | | 30 |
| | | | |
2014 | Times of Oman | Page design | Silver | 4 |
| | Obituary design | Judges Special Recognition | 1 |
| | Page design + Graphics | Award of Excellence | 59 |
| Hi Weekly | Page design | Award of Excellence | 5 |
| Thursday Magazine | Cover + Page design | Award of Excellence | 20 |
| Al Shabiba | Page design | Award of Excellence | 18 |
| Sahah Wa Aljamal | Cover design | Award of Excellence | 4 |
| | | | 111 |
| | | | |
TOTAL | | | | 236 |
WAN-IFRA Asian Media Awards
Year Publication Category Award Number
2011 | Al Shabiba | Newspaper infographic | Gold | 1 |
| Thursday Magazine | Magazine cover | Gold | 1 |
| | | | 2 |
| | | | |
2012 | Al Shabiba | Newspaper infographic | Silver | 1 |
| | | | 1 |
| | | | |
2013 | Hi Weekly | Newspaper infographic | Gold | 1 |
| | Newspaper infographic | Bronze | 1 |
| Thursday Magazine | Magazine cover | Bronze | 1 |
| | | | 3 |
| | | | |
2014 | Al Shabiba | Newspaper infographic | Gold | 1 |
| Thursday Magazine | Magazine infographic | Gold | 1 |
| Hi Weekly | Magazine cover | Silver | 1 |
| | | | 3 |
TOTAL | | | | 9 |
Malofiej Infographic Awards
Year Publication Category Award Number
2011 | Al Shabiba | Newspaper infographic | Bronze | 1 |
| | | | 1 |
| | | | |
2012 | Al Shabiba | Infographic | Silver | 1 |
| | | | 1 |
| | | | |
2013 | Al Shabiba | Infographic | Silver | 1 |
| | | | 1 |
| | | | |
2014 | Times of Oman | Infographic | Gold | 1 |
| Thursday Magazine | Infographic | Silver | 1 |
| | Infographic | Bronze | 1 |
| | | | 3 |
| | | | |
TOTAL | | | | 6 |
World Press Cartoon
Year Publication Category Award Number
2011 | Times of Oman | Editorial Cartoon | Finalist | 1 |
| | | | 1 |
| | | | |
2012 | Al Shabiba | Editorial Cartoon | Finalist | 1 |
| Hi Weekly | Editorial Cartoon | Finalist | 1 |
| | | | 2 |
| | | | |
2014 | Al Shabiba | Editorial Cartoon | Finalist | 3 |
| Thursday Magazine | Editorial Cartoon | Finalist | 1 |
| | | | 4 |
| | | | |
TOTAL | | | | 7 |
Communication Arts Magazine Competition Annual
Year Publication Category Award Number
2011 | Times of Oman | Design | Award of Excellence | 3 |
| | | | 3 |
| | | | |
2012 | Times of Oman | Typography | Award of Excellence | 1 |
| | | | 1 |
| | | | |
TOTAL | | | | 4 |
Society of Illustrators Annual Competition
Year Publication Category Award Number
2012 | Times of Oman | Illustration | Award of Excellence | 1 |
| | | | 1 |
| | | | |
TOTAL | | | | 1 |
Society of Publication Designers (SPD) Annual Competition
Year Publication Category Award Number
2013 | Times of Oman | Page design | Merit Award | 1 |
| Al Shabiba | Infographic | Merit Award | 1 |
| | | | 2 |
| | | | |
2014 | Thursday Magazine | Magazine cover | Gold | 1 |
| | Magazine cover | Merit Award | 5 |
| | | | 6 |
| | | | |
TOTAL | | | | 8 |
HOW Magazine International Design Award
Year Publication Category Award Number
2014 | Thursday Magazine | Magazine cover | Award of Excellence | 2 |
| | | | 2 |
| | | | |
TOTAL | | | | 2 |
Type Director''s Club Annual Competition
Year Publication Category Award Number
2014 | Thursday Magazine | Magazine cover | Award of Excellence | 2 |
| | | | 2 |
| | | | |
TOTAL | | | | 2 |
Creative Quarterly Journal Design Competition
Year Publication Category Award Number
2014 | Thursday Magazine | Magazine cover | Award of Excellence | 4 |
| | | | 4 |
| | | | |
TOTAL | | | | 4 |
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