The past year witnessed a surge in the Arab broadcast market, affecting all aspects of work in the industry. HOW DID THIS GROWTH AFFECT YOUR WORK, AND WHAT DO YOU PREDICT FOR THE MARKET IN 2008?

Shadi Kandil
General Manager of OMD, Dubai 

The Arab broadcast industry has witnessed a stream of gestations, which is drawing it closer to intern national industry norms and practn tices. In fact, the surge referred to is not the fruit of efforts invested in 2007 alone, but rather the accumuln lated efforts of careful planning and a long-term vision that started as far back as 2004. This is not to say that all the players had their cards right; it’s just that those who are leading had enough vigilance, stamina, and dedication to keep on sharpening and perfecting the offerings. The rest aredestined either to follow or to simply drop out of the race. Over the years this has translated into programs with high production value, relevant internationan al formats adapted to the local context and culture, better-placed program grids, and higher-precision audience targeting and segmentation. As communication specialists, our role is to identify every single opportn tunity the brand has to connect with its potential consumers. Operating in a regn gion where broadcasting – particularly pan-Arab TV – still commands a strong share of residents’ attention spans, it is no wonder that television remains one of the most influential gateways to consumer engagement. The concept of branded content delivers audien ence engagement in a contextually relevant and non-intrusive environmn ment, which, in essence, allows the broadcaster to tap into a wider pool of affordable content and, in return, offers the advertisers a stronger affn finity between the brand and its targn get consumer. Moving into 2008, this trend will increase even more, and it’s those early pioneers that are going to reap the largest benefits, both in terms of revenues and captn tive audience.

Rita Abu Zaenoona
Broadcasting student at Al Aqsa University, Gaza 

This year is witnessing the rise of many new channels across the world, but especially in the Middle East. In our region, the specialization of channels has most affected us as students of broadcasting. We have a greater range to choose from, and each channel matches a certain need. This discussion is irrelevant, howen ever, to the many people who don’t have access to satellite television and are restricted to terrestrial TV. Many students at my university only have access to Palestine TV and the new Al Aqsa TV, which are controlled by opposing forces – so you either watch one or the other. We have a problem choosing what to watch and learn from. Who’s right and who’s wrong? It’s difficult to choose when your choices are naturally restricted. So the boom in channels hasn’t affn fected everyone equally; it very much depends onsocio-economic class. The industry is growing, and every few days we hear of a new channel launching, but not everyone follows these trends. People have allegiances to specific channels. In 2008, I hope that the industry will gather to solve the politicization of broadcasting. The Palestinian people need to be united under one body.

Osama Said
Managing Partner and Producer at ArtWareCorp, Syria 

There is a strong link between the advertising industry and the broadcn casting market, since the vast benefits of advertising are a result of the rise in viewership. Although the last few years witnessed a decline in viewersn ship of the official Syrian TV station, and advertisers lost their faith in the medium, the recent founding of new Syrian privn vate channels, such as Al Donia and Sham TV, which attracted an acceptable attendance among the Syrian audien ences, encouraged the advertisers to divert some of their budgets toward TV production instead of outdoor spendin ing. On the other hand, the competition forced the state broadcaster to improve its performance. Also, the existence ofspecialized stations enabled advertisen ers to target specific market segments. For example, the tremendous pan- Arab success of kids’ satellite channels (Spacetoon, MBC3, etc.) gave some particular companies an opportunity to augment their campaigns. As for 2008,I think that the last year gives us an indication that the market is moving toward contn tinuous growth and will be crowded with newcomers, whether we like it or not.

Sophia Khawli
Senior Producer at MBC, Lebanon 

We indeed see many new channels launched this year, but I don’t think they will survive because they lack a foundatn tion. Only channels of quality survive. I know that sex sells and cheap clips are easy to produce, but these only appn peal to a select audience and their effect fades. They don’t appeal to the masses, and TV is now all about infotainment. The masses need quality programming that informs and entertains, and the big networks are providing that. But the rest of these channels that pop up are just personal investments – people putting their money into something to make a name for themselves. This affects ourwork because the more we see out there, the more we strive to make sure we are producing really high-qualin ity programs. This year will see an increase in the specialization of chann nels. We’re now only just beginning to catch up with the West, for example, with the cooking craze. This has been a trend for the past ten to fifteen years in the West, but people here are just begn ginning to understand the tastes of our consumers. Fatafeat was said to be colln lapsing last year, but it’s an extremely popular channel now. In 2008, we’re going to start catching up with some of these trends.