MLive enters music channel fray
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 The free-to-air satellite television market in the Arab world will welcome a new interactive broadcaster in early spring. MLive, a music and entertainment bouquet owned by Europe-based Atlas Interactive will launch its first channel in April.
MLive is the latest in a growing trend for interactive music channels in the Arab World. Its competitors include Rotana Clips, Melody, Mazika TV and ART Music, all of which rely heavily on SMS chat and voting services as well as selling ringtones and promoting sweepstakes.
But MLive is pitching a new edge by promising to focus more on North African music and dance and showcasing Arab fashion designers.
down the line, revenues from the interactive will exceed that of advertising
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MLive Arabia will be the the first of several interactive entertainment channels planned by the network.
Its programs will be a mix of interactive services and reality shows targeting young audiences in the Middle East as well as the Arab expatriate communities in Europe and Australia and, at a later stage, North America.
“The interactive will have a presence across the grid…we have four or five (interactive) programs in the pipeline that we are going to start with,” said MLive Channel CEO Frederic Giaccardo.
The 24-hour channel will be launched via Hotbird, Arabsat and Nilesat and will broadcast initially from France. The network will later be based in Dubai but will have offices across the Arab region.
Giaccardo said his channel was planning to cash in on the advance in digital technology that has made interactivity with viewers easier. It also plans to take full advantage of the “reality craze” that has taken the region’s television channels by storm.
MLive is in the pre-production stage of Dance Makers, a Pop Idol-style reality show featuring belly dancers competing for a top spot.
Giaccardo said the company was planning to launch several new channels by the end of the year.
“We are going to start with MLive and then MLive INTERACTIVE in June that will include more interactive applications such as SMS-Chat, competitions and later MLive movies.
We are projecting up to five to six channels,” Giaccardo said, adding that the main source of revenue will come from interactive-based programs along with advertising.
“As we start off, we expect revenues from interactive services and advertising to be at the same level,” said Giaccardo. “But down the line, we hope revenues from the interactive will exceed that of advertising.”
Giaccardo declined to comment on the size of the launch investment, saying only that “it was quite large” and brushing aside worries about operating in an already crowded market for music and entertainment television.
“Our aim is to be successful and to produce a beautiful bouquet and to be profitable for our shareholders,” he said, adding that the channel expected to break even “within the next year or two.”
“There is always space for quality. You can say that there are 300 channels, some of which are successful but most are not.”
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