“ENOUGH”
ALGERIA’SNEW
BROADCASTLANDSCAPE
Algerian broadcasting has been the exclusive domain of the government
for most of the country’s history, but now the country has a raft of new
privately owned broadcasters. But will the Algerian public tune in? Or
has the new globally aware and digitally savvy generation already
outgrown the new broadcast landscape? Algerian media consultant and
journalist Laeed Zaghlami reports.
t took 50 years of broadcasting
before Algerians finally saw
the first private national TV
channels. And it was only in
January last year that the
National Assembly adopted
a law that legally ended the
state media monopoly that has
been in place since the country’s
independence in 1962.
The Algerian audiovisual
landscape now includes 20 private
channels, but only five of them are
formally accredited. The rest,
though still in operation, are
awaiting a formal authorisation by
the new regulatory authority.
Although it is too early to make
an assessment of the new private
TV channels’ performance, the
Algerian public is hoping they will
deliver on the promise of providing
a variety of programming.
“At least now we are relieved
from the public TV programmes’
monopoly,” says Tahar Chalabi, a
student in information and
communication at Algiers
University, “I hope it is the spark of
new era which will be mainly
driven by programme diversity and
high-quality content.”
“We are tired of being exposed
to the same programmes over the
years,” affirms his classmate,
Brahim Ajali. “Time has come for
Algerian public TV to either change
and cope with new technological
and political trends, or lose the
remaining public.”
TOO LATE?
However Ahmed Kadiri, a
professor at the same university, is
doubtful: “I am not personally
convinced that these new channels
will bring about substantial
changes in their content and
subsequently in the daily audio-
visual public arena. Firstly, they
came into the sphere too late.
Secondly, most of them are owned
by persons that are, for different
reasons, openly and clearly lacking
independence. And thirdly,
Algerian viewers a long time ago
shifted their choices to foreign
satellite TV channels. They have
access to hundreds of satellite TV
channels through over 16 million
parabolic dishes that are
mushrooming on the roofs of
buildings and houses, even in poor
and remote areas.”
Foreign channels have become
an intrinsic part of Algeria’s media
consumption habits. Moreover, the
introduction of new information
technology, internet services and
social media has generated an
alternative public media sphere.
“New technologies have resulted
in public TV viewership decline
and have forced it into a difficult
and complicated situation,”
observes Algerian media scholar
Ahmed Kadiri.
TV vs PC
“Because I have access to internet,”
says Mourad Bentahar, an engineer
working for an ICT company in
Algiers, “the computer screen has
become my main source for news
and entertainment. I can watch
television, listen to radio programmes,
listen to music, carry out some
administrative tasks, email and
connect to friends. I don’t watch
television anymore on a traditional
and passive TV screen. For me it is
completely obsolete and outdated.”
“Currently in Algeria,” Mourad
observes, “computer, mobile and
tablet screens are getting more
popular and attractive especially
for the younger generation.”
The gradual implementation of
digital technologies in different
parts of the country is a major
driving force in Algeria’s economic
and social development. At the
moment, 12.8% of the population
has access to internet through fixed
telephone lines. There are 6000
Algerian websites but many host
abroad, due to poor quality services
of local ISPs. Statistics released by
I
It’s the
computer
screen
that has
become
my main
source for
entertain-
ment and
news
“
”
THE CHANNEL
|
ISSUE 1 2015
|
45
