It is unlikely that the Algerian government will liberalize the television sector. Officials already made it clear during the ongoing talks with the World Trade Organization that the TV sector is off the table. State monopoly is here to stay. But what is the Algerian state-run television worth? Is the Algerian population restricted to watching the old ENTV alone? Not according to a poll conducted recently by market researcher Sigma Conseil.
Some 15 million Algerians make the French TV channels as their favorite channels. That is almost half the entire population of the country that watches TF1, France2, Canal+, M6, EuroSport and other stations. For them the state-run TV station is not an option, but an annoyance to avoid. According to Hassen Zargouni, the head of Sigma Conseil, some 21 million people in the central Maghreb region (Algeria, Morocco and Tunisia) have selected French television stations as their primary choices. In Algeria they are 14.8 million who are benefiting from satellite broadcasting to tune to French TV.
Theses findings are not entirely surprising. They do have the merit, though, to quantify the trends. The findings point that the biggest market in North Africa for French advertisers is Algeria, where 46% of the population view French programs on the constant basis. For comparison purposes, 17% of the Tunisian population choses French TV, while the majority there have a preference for Middle Eastern programs and point their satellite receivers toward Arabsat and Nilesat broadcasted programs. At the bottom of the list is Morocco where only 10% of the population selects French programs.
There are also differences in viewing habits and in channel selection. If the Algerian and Tunisian viewers tend to prefer the French station TF1, the Moroccans generally prefer TV5. North Africans also spend less time watching TV than the Europeans. And among North Africans, the Algerians spend more time watching TV than their neighbors. Despite the strong presence of Al-Jazeera and Al-Arabia, Algerians use 40% of their TV time watching French programs, compared to 12% for the Tunisians and 10% for the Moroccans.
The findings, although already known, are indicative of a deeply troubled Algerian television monopoly. ENTV, the state-owned television is the only one operating the country because the government would not allow competition. ENTV not only lacks financial resources but it also has no skills, entertainment capabilities or journalistic knowledge to compete. Algerians consider it as a propaganda machine that is doing a poor job and is at the service of the government. How likely is this situation to change? All observers say no chance for a change to happen any time soon. President Bouteflika has made no room in his democratization agenda to open up the TV market and liberalize it.
© The North Africa Journal 2004
