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9
Global Brief
The latest news from the international broadcasting industry
The Channel
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Al Jazeera names new chief editor
Al Jazeera Channel has appointed Ahmad
Al Shaikh as its news editor-in-chief. Ahmad
Shaikh was involved in the start-up phase
in 1996, joining Al Jazeera from the BBC
Arabic TV service in London. While at the
channel, Ahmad was mandated with
responsibilities in the news and
programming departments. In 2000, he was
appointed editor-in-chief for the newly
created Al Jazeera Net Arabic language, and
in 2003, as Managing Editor, he oversaw
the launch of the website’s English language
service. Ahmad Sheikh’s journalistic
experience stretches back to 1975 when
he embarked on his chosen career in Kuwait
working for domestic print as well as
broadcast media, moving in 1994 to the
BBC, and on to Al Jazeera Channel. Al
Jazeera is a Platinum Member of the AIB.
Pan-Arab satellite pay-TV losses mount
The number of Arab satellite channels has
increased to over 100 channels in recent
years, despite the fact that 98 per cent
keep operating in the red, according to
Nadim al-Munla, the chairman and general
manager of Future Television based in
Beirut. “The three coded channels, ART
[Arab Radio and Television], Orbit and
Showtime have already lost their initial 4bn-
dollar capital investments,” said Munla
during the Audiovisual Media Sustainability
Challenges conference in Beirut in February.
“The Lebanese Broadcasting Corporation
International (LBCI) and Future Television
are the only Arab satellite broadcasters that
are making a profit or breaking even,” he
added. Munla defined an Arab satellite
channel as a company broadcasting to the
Middle East and Arab countries, irrespective
of its physical location. The trend started
10 years ago with the Saudi-owned Middle
East Broadcasting Centre (MBC) based in
London, followed by Arab government
channels and the private sector.
Initially it was the equipment and satellite
links that made up the bulk of the cost, but
now it is the production, purchasing movie
rights and the creative human factor that
cost most. The biggest problem lies in sports
programmes’ rights. The World Cup used to
cost US$3-4m for the Arab region. The latest
series had a price tag of around US$75m.
According to Munla, the pan-Arab
satellite advertising market stands at a
mere US$200m, which is well below its
projected US$1bn mark. The net income
comes to just US$120m.
“The Arab viewer, with so many channels
at his disposal, has become extremely
demanding,” stressed Munla. “Viewers will
immediately zap mediocre channels, as
they have been exposed to high-quality
programming and can tell the difference
at a glance.”
Al Hurra launches from Washington for Middle East
On 14 February the new US-operated Arabic-language television service,
Al-Hurra
,
launched. The channel - the name translates to
the free one
- is intended to promote
democracy and win over public
opinion in the Arab-speaking
world for US ideas and ideals.
With a focus on news, current
affairs
and
discussion
programmes, the channel aims
to attract the younger viewers in
the region for whom satellite
television has become a major
part of their entertainment. There
is evidence of much channel
hopping in satellite equipped
homes in the Middle East, with
viewers turning to channels such
as MBC TV for entertainment
and toAl Jazeera andAlArabiya
for news. Al Hurra has to create an identity in a heavily competitive media marketplace.
To help ensure that its brand conveys the channel’s ideals, Lambie-Nairn has created an
on-air visual identity. This uses the symbol of the Arab horse to reflect the meaning
behind the channel name. Lambie-Nairn describes the identity as “unique and powerful”.
Despite its slick on-air identity, Al Hurra has not had an easy ride in the Middle East.
Saudi clerics have been vociferous in their condemnation of the channel. In the region’s
print media scepticism has been rife both before and since the channel’s launch. For
example on 19 March the Arabic language newspaper
Al-Wafd
published an article
voicing the views of Egyptian newspaper editors and prominent journalists. In this,
Abdalah al-Sinawi, editor-in-chief of theArabic language weekly newspaper
Al-Arabi
,
expressed his belief that Al-Hurra reflects “the failure of US propaganda in the region
and proves that there is an unprecedented wave of hatred for the United States” in the
Arab world. Al-Sinawi predicts that Al-Hurra will fail because Americans believe
that “this hatred is not due to US policy in the Middle East, but rather because their
point of view has not been offered in an appropriate way to the [Arab] public opinion”.
He urges Arab intellectuals to boycott the channel “because it is not independent. It is
the voice of the CIA and no Arab intellectual should express his views through it”.
But opinions are not entirely negative. Arab viewers point out that the channel
conducts “no-holds barred” interviews in which criticism of US foreign policy is
freely aired. An example of this was the interview with Sate Nuruddin, a well-
known Lebanese journalist, who accused the Bush administration of lacking
credibility on every Arab issue.
It is clear that it is going to be difficult for the new station to establish independent
credibility and to win over the hearts and minds of viewers in the Middle East,
particularly, noted one observer, when it broadcast an American cookery programme
dubbed into Arabic at a time when every other pan-Arabic TV news service was
providing live coverage of the demonstrations in Palestine before the funeral of Sheikh
Ahmed Yassin. Michael Young, opinion writer at Beirut’s
Daily Star
newspaper,
commented: “This hardly endeared the station (which is supposed to provide an alternative
approach to regional news that is more friendly to the United States) to Arab viewers.
Whatever the reason, Al-Hurra’s not pursuing the story in real time will be interpreted by
manyArabs as politicallymotivated.Yassin’s deathwasAl-Hurra’s first test, and the station
failed spectacularly.”
The Broadcasting Board of Governors, the US government agency that oversees Al
Hurra, is a Member of the AIB. With acknowledgement to BBC Monitoring for some
source material.
Oman extends Arabsat deal
Oman’s Information Minister and the director-general of the Arab Satellite
Telecommunications Organization (Arabsat) have signed an agreement to extend the
Sultanate of Oman’s television and radio transmissions toAsia, Africa, NorthAmerica
and SouthAmerica. In a further agreement, Oman’s television and radio transmissions
are to be extended to Australia and New Zealand to enable Arab and Omani students
and communities to receive and watch its programmes.
