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Ready for business
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by Joelle Hatem
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In the last four years, a flurry of business channels have hit the airwaves, all competing to satisfy Middle Eastern audiences' seemingly insatiable demand for information about their business interests and the region’s national economies.
Since the launch of CNBC Arabia in 2003, business channels have been popping up at the rate of at least one per year. In 2004, Al Aqariya (‘real estate’) became the first niche business offering - focusing on the property market - followed in 2005 by the launch of the Egypt-based Arab Business Channel. Then in 2006, Al Eqtisadia (‘the economy’) and Decision-Makers hit the airwaves and by press time, Al Aamal (‘business’) was airing a test broadcast message, branding itself as the “first Arab channel that specializes in Islamic finance.”
On a general level, business programming has also seen a major boost on some all-news networks, especially Al Arabiya, which says it has increased financial news by a whopping “450 percent” from 50 minutes to over four hours per day.
But despite an upturn in investments, business remains a challenging new frontier for many stations and coverage is often limited to what goes on in the oil-rich states of the Gulf Cooperation Council or GCC.
Following the money
The Arab world’s business channels tout their coverage of the entire Middle East, however the overwhelming focus remains the prospering Arabian Peninsula. “The level of economic activity in the GCC is very high,” says Omer Ghani, Director Sales at Dubai-based CNBC Arabia. “Therefore, coverage of this region is high as well.”
With two bureaus in Saudi Arabia (Riyadh and Jeddah) and another UAE office in Abu Dhabi as well as bureaus in Doha, Kuwait and Bahrain, five key countries seem to take center stage in the station’s coverage. Along with investments, the GCC region also remains the epicenter of business-related TV advertising, according to Sherif Hassan Mohammad, Head of News at Dubai-based Al Eqtisadia.
“The focus on the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia is based on the fact that they’re the investors and the largest part of advertising comes from them,” he says.
From a marketer’s point of view, business channels provide access to an ideal audience of executives, a “superior environment and less waste,” according to Jaikumar Menon, Regional Managing Director of Universal Media for the MENA region.
Expanding audience
A major factor behind the growth of business programming is the dynamism of the region’s financial industry. New stock market openings, such as that of the Dubai International Financial Exchange in 2005, have sparked relatively widespread interest in the market among the region’s population.
The result has been a “paradigm shift” in media consumption, according to CNBC Arabia’s Omer Ghani. “We consider viewers who are engaged in the economy, be they salaried employees, business owners, government regulators or investors, to be our audience,” he says.
Over the last two years, two groups in particular have been of interest: women and younger people with both “increasingly getting involved in the stock market and real estate,” according to Al Arabiya head of business news Jamil El Hage.
The battle for business audiences has also led to the emergence of niche channels such as Dubai-based Al Aqariya and Saudi-based Osool, which both focus on the real estate market. “Our target is society as a whole,” says Al Eqtisadia’s Mohammad. “There are programs for women, business men, retailers, etc. It’s all done from an economic point of view.”
Transparency issues
Despite all their efforts, Arab business channels have had to negotiate a few hurdles along the way, such as issues of transparency and openness in the marketplace. “Companies have instructions not to disclose any information so that the market is not affected by them,” says Al Eqtisadia’s Mohammad.
“CEOs don’t like to talk to journalists,” adds Al Arabiya’s El Hage. “I think it’s part of the culture in the region. For example, in Lebanon, we can easily get any government minister to appear on our shows. But it’s difficult to interview a company’s top executives.”
Over the years, however, there has been a noticeable trend of opening up among regional corporations, specifically those in the UAE, Saudi Arabia and Egypt, according to Mohammad. He says that tock market regulators can even sanction companies for releasing false misleading or information.
Yet CNBC Arabia, one of the biggest players in the market, sees relatively little to fuss about. “We do not face obstacles in providing coverage,” says Ghani, adding that public figures are actually quite keen to talk with CNBC. “I think it’s a misperception here that companies are not transparent. Business is very much straightforward in the Middle East. There are no Enrons here,” he muses, in a reference to the accounting scandal surrounding the now defunct US energy company.
Pushing to stay ahead
Business programming on at least two channels is getting a new look this year, as part of increasingly visible efforts to stay ahead of the growing competition.
CNBC Arabia recently revamped its entire on-screen appearance as part of a global re-branding campaign. “We thought that the international look of CNBC was nice and being part of the network would give us more power in the region,” says company CTO Hasan Sayed Hasan.
Al Arabiya’s business news is also undergoing an upgrade of sorts, as part of a broader remodeling effort for the entire channel. Graphics displays are a key component of the new look at both broadcasters.
“For financial channels, numbers are everything,” says Sven Magnus Jakobsen of Norwegian graphics systems producer Vizrt. “The numbers on their own wouldn’t give any reference to the viewers without the graphics.” As an indication of the segment’s growth, the company’s Middle East revenues exceeded $3 million in 2006 sales to business and sports channels alone.
Competition is also heating up on the programming level, with CNBC Arabia encouraging interactivity with its growing stable of viewers. “We’re trying to encourage people to discuss with our guests and experts what they want to know. And the phone-ins have exceeded our expectations,” says Ghani.
Meanwhile, Al Eqtisadia is looking to enhance its grid with programs that can “better address the problems of Arabs in their home country or abroad,” says Mohammad.
Room for growth
Despite the mushrooming of business channels and business programming, some station executives say regional business news is still underrepresented when compared to political news. “The market still needs more channels,” says Al Eqtisadia’s Mohammad. He also complains about the lack of business footage generated by news agencies. “There are only three or four specialized business channels compared to over 20 news channels.”
CNBC Arabia’s Hasan agrees, but says quality will be a deciding factor for audiences. “Not all the channels are at the same level - and the viewers can see the difference,” he says.
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