Despite an ongoing need for reliable, region-wide research, today's Gulf media industry continues to flourish and keep apace with world markets. GMR presents studies on print, television, radio and online
Thinking outside of the box
The world of television is changing - and fast. First up: the speedy rush towards High Definition TV
The United States is furthest ahead in terms of numbers, having sold three million HD-equipped TV sets last year, and is expected to sell another 4.8m this year. But helped by the Greece Olympic Games, and other high-profile sports events, most American forecasters talk about HDTV "taking off" next year with around 8m sets bought. By 2008 annual volumes will have hit 11m sets sold, and by 2008 it is anticipated that 30% of all US television homes will own at least one HDTV set.
That's an impressive take-up for a brand new industry, and it is helped by all of the main TV networks turning out HD digital programming, which is a significant improvement on current NTSC-standard transmissions.
The sales success shouldn't be a surprise. A recent study by the authoritative Carmel Research Group ranked what US consumers wanted in their homes: 1) digital video, 2) broadband, 3) VOD-Personal Video Recorder and 4) HD. But 52% of those surveyed said they were quite prepared to dish up $8 a month for HD-specific programming from the likes of Discovery HD Theatre. HD sets in the US are currently selling at an average $1,700 each.
But the US is not alone. Japan is also steaming ahead with HDTV, as are Korea, Australia (20 hours minimum a week per main network) and Brazil. It also seems that Europe is getting enthusiastic, and it might even be that the Middle East is getting the bug. Confirmed reports indicate that Dubai Television, currently undergoing a major re-launch, is building up its resources in order to start HD transmissions. Abu Dhabi TV, currently putting the finishing touches to its massive new studio at its broadcast centre, is taking a similar position.
The drive is partly backed by the TV set manufacturers, but is also largely driven by consumer 'pull'. Twenty years ago consumers in the 'West' would be quite happy to own a 20-inch or 21-inch set. Now, those same viewers expect nothing less than a 42-inch monster and there's a real trend towards 50-inch and even 60-inch sets (at the higher end of the price scale). Those prices are falling, and Japanese experience shows that as prices fall, sales rise commensurately.
Piracy
The Middle East, unfortunately, has something of a reputation for piracy, especially in terms of Hollywood content (and Microsoft products, Rolex watches and other branded merchandise). The Dubai-based Arabian Anti-Piracy Alliance (AAA) is doing its best to combat DVD and pre-recorded music counterfeiting, and pay-TV piracy whether via grey-market 'smart card' imports or signal theft (which is still rampant in Lebanon). The AAA may have a few silent soldiers helping in its work shortly.
The aids come in the shape of two neat devices based on cellular technology. The first concept includes building a low-cost GSM chip onto the printed-circuit board within a standard set-top box. GSM chip-sets cost only a few cents, and will have the immediate benefit of permitting users to 'play along' with shows like Big Brother or Pop Idol. Viewers will press a button on the remote control to take them into a new televisual interactive world. It's known that Showtime, for example, is putting considerable resources into a new tier of interactive services.
However, the benefit to pay-TV broadcasters is considerable. Using a GSM's cell-based structure, the broadcaster will know where the box is within certain limits. For example, Multichoice/M-Net in South Africa could know that a box with their smart-card in it is 'living' in Saudi Arabia or Dubai, where it has no right to be, and where Multichoice do not have the rights to show programming.
But there's more. SES Global, the Luxemburg-based satellite operator, has just bought into Orbcomm, a satellite builder based in the USA. The clever thing about Orbcomm is that they make so-called Low Earth Orbiting (LEO) satellites that only orbit at a few hundred kilometres above our heads, instead of the 30,000km at which craft like Arabsat and Nilesat operate. In other words, these LEO satellites can pick up specific transmissions from a set-top box. And like a car's satellite navigation system (which uses very similar satellites), can pin-point a set-top box to within a half-metre. It means that for the first time satellite transmissions can be secured to specific set-top boxes. Piracy can be easily eliminated because the set-top box can quietly register itself with the orbiting satellite. The consumer will never know, except when the set-top box is used to collect broadcasts that the viewer has not paid for! These devices are a year or two away just yet, but the R&D departments are well advanced with their work.
Something that's much closer to reality is SatMode. SatMode is being developed by SES Global, with the help of a 25m grant from the European Space Agency. The brief was simple: design a Low Noise Block (the LNB is the little device that sits on the end of the satellite dish 'arm') that costs no more than $50 and allows the set-top box to talk directly to the high-orbiting satellite. This is a major challenge. An orbiting satellite uses significant power to radiate its wonderful signals back to Earth. To send a signal back up to the satellite usually needs huge Earth stations with dishes measuring a huge 10-15m in width.
To convert this concept to a safe uplink signal that doesn't fry the brains of users nearby (or interefere with terrestrial signals) has been the challenge, and is now nearing its conclusion. Prototypes have been tested for some months now, and production units will start to flow this coming winter. It is rumoured that BSkyB is already testing them, and Hong Kong-based AsiaSat has had many enquiries for SatMode-based technology.
Cellular breakthrough
There's another neat technology that's already a reality in some markets. We have all heard the word 'convergence' a thousand times before - of how, in an IP-based world, we would all be watching TV on our PCs and surfing the web via our TV sets. Today, we are a little wiser. But we do know with absolute certainty that television-based interactivity can be a money-making winner, and a broadcaster's download services can take content to our computers. In other words, the old forecasts were probably right but needed a little fine-tuning, and a few billion dollars 'invested' in the learning curve.
But in May Nokia showed a few journalists its impressive 7700 model. It's a mobile phone, radio (and potentially even a TV using the fascinating DVB-H technology) with Nokia's Visual Radio software. Reidar Wasenius, Nokia's multimedia senior product manager, unveiled a host of reasons why broadcasters should be tapping into cellular telephony. For example, that 77% of users of their best-selling 8310 cell phones/FM radios used the radio at least once a week, and that FM radio tuners were being added to a wider range of their - and their rivals' - models.
Nokia's 7700 model's USP however is (for a cell phone) its huge screen, which encourages users to view and interact with their favourite radio stations. SBS Broadcasting's Kiss FM in Finland is already signed up, and there are "advanced discussions" with radio stations in the UK, and elsewhere, to carry metadata in their FM sidebands. Weather reports can be visualised, as can traffic. Detailed data can be shown about the musician being featured. Competitions, quizzes, text participation, ringtone downloads and the Holy Grail: ordering the CD being played via the GPRS 'always on' back channel. Reidar Wasenius said that on some cell phones it could take up to 41 key strokes to get to WAP or GPRS-supplied data. Nokia's Visual Radio reduces that to two. Nokia have an interactive demo at www.visualradio.fi. However, prices are going to have to fall. Clearly, the new model is targeted at the younger user, but expected to be priced at terribly high Communicator levels.
But that's not all. Some telcos and radio broadcasters have linked to distribute news, sport, entertainment, travel and stock-market information to mobile devices. 3G cellular telephony and GPRS, EDGE technology and WCDMA/HSDPA (High-Speed Downlink Packet Access) offerings, all of which promise improved if not spectacular transfer rates, all mean that real-time broadcasting is just around the corner. Broadcasters, if they're wise, should be preparing. Nokia's 7700 is expected to be released to the public this summer, and is backwardly compatible to its 6600 models.
Congress for a brave newspaper world
At this year's World Newspaper Congress in Istanbul all agreed that change - in media landscape, in consumer interests - is relentless, but definately good
The theme of the just-completed World Newspaper Congress in Istanbul was 'Winning Strategies in the New Business Environment', arguably the only possible theme for the global newspaper industry.
"Since the first newspapers rolled off the presses more than 200 years ago, publishers have constantly been facing up to the pressures of new business environments," said Brendan Hopkins, CEO of APN News & Media in Australia and New Zealand. "In our business, change is relentless, from wooden type to hot metal to computer-to-plate. There has never been a period in publishing history where technology and consumer tastes have stood still."
Karen House, publisher of the Wall Street Journal, put it this way: "As we in the newspaper industry emerge from a global business recession and continue to operate in turbulent times, it helps to remember that the world of business is constantly evolving and so must publications if we are to serve the evolving needs and interests of our customers."
If any one message could be drawn from the three days of presentations, debate and dialogue at the congress, World Editors Forum and Info Services Expo 2004, it would be that strategic innovation is alive and thriving among global newspapers and that the fast-changing media landscape is offering more opportunities than threats to established media.
The evidence was everywhere at the congress, forum and expo, which drew more than 1,300 publishers, chief editors and other senior executives from 88 countries to Istanbul, Turkey, for the global meetings of the world's press organised by the World Association of Newspapers.
The Washington Post, which reaches a greater share of its local market than any other metropolitan newspaper in the United States, is extending its influence outside the US capital through non-traditional channels.
"Our online washingtonpost.com website has been gaining readers in Washington and around the world at a very rapid pace. Today more than 1.3 million Washingtonians visit washingtonpost.com on a regular basis. Another five million Americans outside the Washington region and more than a million international readers come regularly to our site, for a total online readership of 7.5 million," said Donald Graham, chairman and CEO of the company.
"By this measure, to say nothing of the 50 million people in 64 countries whom we reach through the Los Angeles Times' Washington Post News Service, far more people are reading the journalism of The Washington Post than ever before."
In markets where circulation is declining, some newspapers are bucking the trend and gaining sales. What are they doing that others can emulate? Surprisingly, all of them have more women readers than men. All of them set long-term strategies and stick with them. None are obsessed with younger readers and they market to all age groups.
"Those of us who have worked in circulation realise what a difficult job it is," said Jim Chisholm, director of the Shaping the Future of the Newspaper project for the World Association of Newspapers, who collected the 18 case studies in "Circulation Winners", available from the SFN project at www.futureofthenewspaper.com.
"Most newspapers are extraordinarily interesting and compelling products, but the function of circulation, of distributing newspapers to hundreds of outlets at the same time every day, allowing for massive fluctuations in demand, different commuting patterns, outlet types and the impact of promotions, competitive activity, price wars (and dare one mention it, the weather!) is the most underestimated challenge of our industry."
In Ireland, which has only four million people but 14 daily newspapers, the Irish Star has consistently increased circulation while raising its cover price at the same time.
"In tandem with these price increases, we always re-invest a significant portion of the proceeds back in either the product or additional promotional activity," said managing director Paul Cooke. "Our key principles are: do not cheat the reader; consumers will pay more for value; if asking customers to pay more, always give something back."
In Poland, the Axel Springer-owned Fakt is the country's biggest selling daily, rising to the top position only two months after its launch last year. Fakt is a tabloid, and proudly so, arguing that "tabloid" doesn't mean "less serious".
"Tabloids prove that a newspaper can stay in close contact with their readers, can speak in their name and even help them with their problems. They show that it is possible to win and maintain readers who previously did not read newspapers at all or did not read them regularly," said editor Grzegorz Jankowski.
The front page is more important than ever before. Even conservative newspapers like France's Le Monde are using more colour, more photos, more indexes to pull readers inside.
"It's become a showcase to our content," said Sylvain Cypel, the newspaper's deputy editor in chief. The front page, with quick summaries of the content inside, reflects "how readers read today".
Newspaper designer Roger Black, who admires Le Monde and other papers that experiment with design, agrees. "We're trying to make our newspapers more useful," he says. "To get more information onto the surface, to make it faster. People just don't have time anymore, and we have too much competition."
When life on the edge is no longer niche
By catching the early wave, Extreme secured the attention of an ever-growing hardcore sporting audience
Launched from Holland in May 1999, the Extreme channel has grown to become one of the few internationally recognised TV brands not to originate from the US. The brand's development offers pointers not just to Gulf media owners but also to marketing managers looking to extend the remit of their brand.
The channel's focus is on what it terms adrenaline-high, non-traditional sports. These would include surfing, skateboarding, snowmobiling, BMXing, mountain biking and base jumping. While many of these would have been classed as amateurish niche activities in 1999, many have since grown into international (and professional) sports with high-profile world championship events and major sponsors. Globally, many of the fastest growing sports are classed as 'extreme'.
To the uninitiated, this highly-focused base may appear slight, but Extreme's research suggests there are 141 million active extreme participants worldwide. Of these, 22 million of them are snowboarders (with sales of snowboards up 300% in the last 3 years), 28 million surfers, 20 million windsurfers, 37 million skateboarders and 34 million BMXers and Inline skaters.
Extreme's success has been to turn this diverse spread of enthusiasts into a profitable broadcast channel. Scheduled 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, it delivers 650+ hours of new programming per annum and claims to access more than 17 million households in over 50 countries. It also comes in eight languages, including Hebrew, Polish and Hungarian.
Run off a tight budget, direct marketing, celebrity endorsement, PR and event creation are at the heart of the marketing plan. It sponsored over 150 events across Europe last year, including UK Surf Championships, ChamJam in Chamonix, Monmartre Freeskate in Paris, Mentor Skateboard Championships in Poland and the Enduro World Championships in Eksjo, Sweden. In addition, it sends a weekly email to a database of more than 22,000.
To advertisers, the channel's attraction is its ability to reach the hard-to-get 16-34 demographic. In TGI audited research it claims 1.4 million UK individuals tune in each month, split 69% male, 31% female - the second highest concentration of upmarket male viewers of any UK channel. In addition, Extreme viewers are 99% more likely than the UK average to buy sports equipment, 52% more likely to have a high mobile phone spend and 30% more likely to be tempted to buy products advertised.
Its website, extreme.com, receives 5,620,329 hits, 413,924 ad impressions, 300,000 page impressions, and sees 73,000 unique users each month. The site also sells Extreme's growing line of product extensions - from clothing to energy drinks to ringtones.
These represent commercial numbers for a brand that bills itself as "a cool, credible and memorable international presence, at the leading edge of youth culture". Its success recently saw it judged as one of the eight most effective sports brands in the world, alongside the likes of Manchester United, the Olympic rings and the New York Yankees.
The little dotcom that could
Is AME Info a model for the region's online media?
Klaus Lovgreen and Lars Nielsen did not set out to be dotcom millionaires. Which is probably why their venture, the business information portal AME Info, is still going strong four years after the dotcom crash.
AME Info originally came about from an information need that Lovgreen had while working as a trader in Abu Dhabi in 1995. He needed contact information for regional companies, so created AME Info's first product, a CD-Rom-based Middle East company database in 1997. It contained the details of 125,000 companies and sold for $100.
The CD sold well outside the Middle East, but was a flop regionally, because no one wanted to pay for it. "In Autumn 1997 we acknowledged it was a failure and decided to change business model," says Lars Nielsen, vice-president, sales and marketing. "Instead of selling the CDs we went out and mass distributed them, and offered companies a media platform of 100,000 CDs."
In 1998 they broke even, and in 1999 they sold 77 sponsorships and made a good profit.
But just as they seemed to have found a business model that was working, Lovgreen looked at which way the wind was blowing and decided that the internet was the future, and decided to kill the CD.
This, according to Nielsen, was the only time that he and Lovgreen have fundamentally disagreed about business strategy. Lovgreen won out and they put their product online with some news, and began to build the online resource that is today AME Info.
However, there was no immediate success. Nielsen and Lovgreen holed themselves up in a small office in the Karama district of Dubai throughout 1999 and 2000 while slowly building the content offering. Most of the sponsors of the CD initially deserted them, unsure of this new medium.
Until now AME Info had been a pure information resource. Content consisted of either the company database or press releases printed verbatim through the news desk. Then in 2001, they met Peter Cooper, the founding editor of Gulf Business, who was looking to set up a financial portal.
AME Info was looking for some editorial input, so together they created AME Info fn.
"We have since been concentrating on expanding our content," says Nielsen. "We Arabised our new wires in 2001, and now 25% of our page views are from our Arabic content."
AME Info remains a mix of corporate or sponsored content, such as the press releases and columns from the likes of Oracle, and actual journalism, from Cooper and his team.
Using this model, AME Info manages to create an enormous amount of content, some 50 stories a day from press releases alone, on a relatively small staff.
It is part of a philosophy that has helped keep AME Info profitable from very early on without relying on huge loans or venture capital funding.
"We come from a conservative background where you don't spend it until you have made it," says Nielsen. We never took a loan or CV funding. Our local partner gave us AED250,000 as working capital."
The failure of most dotcoms came from the need to rapidly build a brand, and the resultant rapid expenditure of marketing dollars to try and achieve this. Again AME Info has broken the mould in this area.
"I have never spent a fils on advertising," says Nielsen, who has instead used barter to raise the profile of the site. "We sponsor over 300 events a year. We have a TV campaign breaking on CNN with all our biggest customers giving testimonials."
"But I still meet people in Dubai who have not heard of AME Info, so they are a market to be conquered," he says.
The next big revolution at AME Info is the revenue model on which it relies. Advertising has been the main source of income for AME Info, but over the coming months Nielsen is looking to diversify.
It already licenses some content to Reuters and other international news wires, and is soon to license its broadband content, with Dubai Media City as its first client.
"Broadband is going to be a very big part of our offering," says Nielsen. "We want to be a niche TV channel. Last month we showed over 150,000 videos on AME Info." AME Info also makes corporate videos for regional companies.
Moving forward, AME Info is looking for another more stable revenue stream. "The subscription model is a very big part of our future, but you have to find new areas of content," says Nielsen. "People do not want to pay for something that was free yesterday. FT.com lost 85% of its users when it launched its subscription model."
The first piece of paid content on the site is a return to the company's roots. After killing the CD-Rom product in 1999 the company's database is being cleaned and prepared for relaunch as a pay-to-view service online.
AME Info has innovated consistently over the past few years to create a flourishing online business. But Nielsen and Lovgreen still feel that online media is not getting the attention it deserves from the advertising community.
"Our biggest competitors are not MenaFN or Al Bawaba, it's agency intransigence," says Nielsen. "Agencies like big figures and easy deals. Online attracts small budgets and there is a lot of ignorance about the medium."
In the face of this, Nielsen is not just selling AME Info, he is selling online as a whole. "When my clients ask where else to advertise I recommend my competitors," he says. "It helps bake a bigger cake."
Despite this generosity of spirit and a sense of community in the online publishing field that is rarely seen in its offline cousin, there are still only a handful of serious players in the business-to-business publishing field in the Middle East. If Nielsen is right, that could all be about to change. "Online is set for a boom," he says optimistically. But then you would have to be to get where he is now.
In one ear, on to another
The airwaves of the UAE have never been so exciting, but who is listening? And how are they listening?
The first answer is: lots of people are listening, reveals Radio Tracker UAE, a monthly radio tracking study from TNS/NFO Middle East & Africa. Radio is the number three medium in the country - after TV and newspapers - and reaches a substantial 41% of the population every day. Magazines follow next - cumulating 46% over a week's time.
This makes radio a top contender for advertising money - and a great option for companies targeting the local market.
Radio is a popular medium, reaching all sections of the population, but is particularly popular among: working males, Emiratis and Asians. Given the long commute times they experience it is no surprise that Sharjah residents are the most devoted to the medium, followed by Dubai and Abu Dhabi dwellers. Parts of Al Ain experience poor reception of FM stations and this is reflected in lower listenership there.
Tune in, tune out
Radio listening is a day-long affair, experiencing peaks and troughs as we wind our way through the day. The first rise is in the morning, starting from 7.00am until around 7.45am - reflecting the start time of many government offices. The second rise starts at 9.15am, peaking at 10.30am and stretching until 11.30am. This coincides with commute time for many people, but clearly radio listening doesn't stop with reaching the office! Of course for many housewives this is the first time in the morning that they have had the chance to relax and listen to the radio.
Peak listening for the entire day occurs at lunchtime and post-lunch. This period is when many government offices close, plus those working split shifts drive home. The evening hours have a very short rise around 7.00pm. Radio listening ebbs late in the evening and remains low through the night when TV takes over.
There is a considerable degree of variation in radio listening between demographic groups. In particular, it is worth mentioning that Emiratis and expatriate Arabs listen mostly during the morning hours and late in the afternoon, while Asians listen after 10.30am in the morning, during lunchtime and in the evening.
Sharjah residents again reveal some unique patterns - staying stuck to the radio through the day - while Dubai residents have a pronounced peak between 2.00pm and 2.30pm in the afternoon.
Radio listening is higher during the early part of the week, peaking on Tuesday, and lower during the weekend, particularly on Friday.
Favourite frequencies
With radio content and delivery highly customised to the preferences of various nationality groups, it's no wonder that channel preferences are also quite distinct.
Emirates FM 90.5 is the top station amongst Emiratis, followed by Radio Sawa 90.5 and then Abu Dhabi FM. Among Arab expats, Radio Sawa tops, followed by Abu Dhabi FM.
HUM 106.2 tops among Asian expatriates (Indians, Pakistanis), followed by Radio 4 FM (89.1) and Ras Al Khaimah (Radio Asia).
Radio in the UAE is today a mature medium with a large band of regular listeners, a proliferation of choices and a growing listener base. With its interactive format, cost-effectiveness and day-time reach, radio offers a variety of options for the marketer. The growing population and expanding new suburban communities will ensure that radio relevance continues to increase in this market.
The good, the bad, but not the ugly
Al Arabiya's steadily growing success has proven that there is an audience for politics-free news reporting
It is difficult to write about the transformation of news reporting in the Arab world without mentioning Al Jazeera. The Qatar-based channel has revolutionised the news industry, both regionally and internationally, setting new standards in reporting and pricking the interest of locals in Arab-centred news.
It has also antagonised many people - to such an extent that a large number of advertisers have steered clear. And plaudits and notoriety don't pay the bills.
Enter MBC and Al Arabiya. The year-old channel is described by its marketing manager, Nizar Aintrazy, as a news and information supplier, "without analysis or politics". He says the broadcaster's research showed a clear need for an alternative to Al Jazeera, offering "a more balanced approach", and that the channel could build on the credibility of MBC's nightly news bulletin.
"There is a real desire for independent Arab news media in the region," he states. "The second Gulf war, and the coverage supplied by CNN, showed what we were lacking."
The channel, though still some way behind the market-leading Al Jazeera (current figures suggest viewership is half that of Al Jazeera, but rising), has attracted major advertisers and has bullish growth expectations. Importantly, it established a global reach within six months of launch.
Aintrazy says the target market is the 250 million-strong Arab world, but that Europe and North America are healthy add-ons. Content, as yet, remains Arabic-only, but an English version is a possibility.
"The station is still developing, there are definitely opportunities," he shrugs. An Arabic website, alarabiya.net, went live in late May; this may see an English version in the near future.
The channel came to market at an opportune moment - the onset of the Iraq conflict - with a soft launch rushed through for February 2003 ahead of full-time operations in March. News viewership figures understandably spiked, and, says Aintrazy, the new channel got a healthy share.
"We also lost four reporters in the first week of the war," he says, though they were later found alive, "and this created extra publicity."
While wars are good news for news suppliers, Aintrazy admits the channel does not want to stake its reputation on bombs and bullets - "and daily incidents are now like a lifestyle in the Middle East". There has been an emphasis on delivering global scoops throughout the past year. He lists exclusives with Saddam Hussain's daughter, the Iraqi Minister of Information, Edward Shevednadze, Colin Powell and Jacques Verges, Carlos the Jackal's lawyer, as being among the channel's biggest successes. Home grown presenters, the modern graphics and set, and award winning documentaries, he says, are also big pluses.
"We've wanted to build a variety of programming. Yes, we have 24-hour news bulletins, but there are also seven talk shows, documentaries, culture and current affairs," he says. "And there is an idea that news has to mean bad news; we like to cover good news too."
Unsurprisingly, the core viewership has tended to be 25+ males (attracting banking, telecoms and, in particular, automotive advertisers), but Aintrazy has his sights set on a slice of the youth and female market. He says the channel will not need to create sub-brands to pull in these markets. "We can use non-core programming. For instance, we know the youth market will be more interested in, say, history or sports. We'll look to provide programming specifically for them."
Showtime recently undertook a large scale survey of its regional subscribers. These are the headline figures for the three biggest markets.
The mean between the extremes
Dubai TV's agenda: to create programming that reflects the cosmopolitan, forward-thinking nature of the emirate while staying true to regional cultures and traditions
The revamped Dubai TV came on air in June promising a fresh approach to television broadcasting in the region. The station clearly has the market-leading MBC in mind and has made clear it wishes to emulate the visionary zeal of its home emirate.
The vision statement states the need to "create a TV channel that caters to the Arab family in general and the Khaleeji family in particular through innovative and varied programming that is respectful to Arab values and traditions". At the same time it must project the dynamic, cosmopolitan worldliness that is Dubai today.
The station claims to have gathered what it describes as "a formidable team of TV executives, producers and programmers" to work on the relaunch. The result, it says, is an all-new new grid of programmes, a new corporate culture and a totally new identity.
The result is very much in line with Dubai itself. It has aggressively pursued successful internationally proven formats with ratings track records, while reformatting them with locally produced presenters, guests and audience members. In addition, 15 new shows are being shot in Dubai, Lebanon and Egypt. This in-house content features edgy new sets and some of the area's most well-established stars. Columnist Daoud Charyan, former Miss Lebanon Dina Azar, TV personality Lina Sawwan, game show host Mariane Khlat, UAE academic Abdul Khaliq Abdullah, and Egyptian funny man Moataz Damerdash are among the most recognisable names. In addition, fresh news faces are being introduced to reflect the region and be groomed to be 'The Faces' of Dubai TV.
The intention is to position Dubai TV as "a leader in the production of some of the most exciting programming in the area. Bought-in programming will play a role, explains the station, and deals have been inked with Warner Brothers, Disney, Egypt Production City, Paramount, Sony Colombia, BBC, Granada, Freemantle, and Endemol to supply content - but in-house will provide a real identity and help develop the brand.
It is being positioned as a family oriented channel. Programming must be "non-offensive, and respectful of culture and traditions, while still being relevant, current and intelligent". In a world of Superstar and Big Brother, steering clear of controversy in the pursuit of ratings is not as easy as it sounds. That said, the station says it aims to play a role in increasing social and political awareness on issues confronting Arab audiences.
Furthermore, programming will target the Arab family which is "modern, progressive and worldly yet a conservative entity that is proud of and upholds its age-old traditions". The station says its research shows this is a viewership that is eager to embrace what is positive and constructive in other cultures - that is, advancement in the fields of education, technology, and health - without losing its moral compass.
There are an estimated 160 million Arab TV viewers and 51 million cable or satellite subscribers. Dubai TV aims to appeal to all, across the gender, age, sexual and educational divide.
Presently located in the Dubai Television studio in Oud Mehta, Dubai Media Incorporated is in the process of relocating its offices to Dubai Media City, a move that will occur in two stages. A state-of-the-art news studio has been built from scratch, with the news and current affairs departments already relocated. Within the next two years, a studio equipped with modern equipment for the locally produced programming and administrative headquarters will be completed. When construction is done, the rest of the operation will be transferred to the DMC.
By that stage the industry will be in a better position to see whether it has delivered on its promise.
© Gulf Marketing Review 2004
