…from beneath the crooked bough, witness 230 years of brutal tyranny by the al Khalifas come to an end
Random header image... Refresh for more!

Western oriented Broadcast Media Blitz in MENA

by Courtesy

Arab Spring Reshapes Market for TV News
By ERIC PFANNER – October 30, 2011 – NYT

PARIS — As revolutions upend the political landscape across the Arab world, the news media landscape is shifting, too.

The market for Arabic-language television news, dominated for years by two satellite channels with close links to Arab rulers, is poised for a shot of new competition with the pending introduction of two 24-hour news channels backed by Western media conglomerates.

Prince Walid bin Talal, the Saudi billionaire who controls the media company Rotana, provided details last month of one of the channels, which will be named Alarab and will operate in partnership with Bloomberg, the business news and information company.

Meanwhile, British Sky Broadcasting, the pay-television provider, is moving ahead with plans for the introduction of another new channel, called Sky Arabia, in partnership with Abu Dhabi Media Investment, which is controlled by Sheik Mansour bin Zayed al-Nahyan, a member of the ruling family of the Gulf emirate.

Analysts say the new channels, which are set to start broadcasting next year, could provide the first serious challenge in years to Al Jazeera and Al Arabiya, which have enjoyed a viewership duopoly for much of the past decade.

Joe Khalil, co-author of the book “Arab Television Industries,” said he did not think the newcomers would replace Al Jazeera, which is owned by the royal family of Qatar, or Al Arabiya, which is based in Dubai and owned by Saudi investors with royal connections. Those broadcasters have long faced competition from several other regional news channels, including BBC Arabic Television and Al Hurra, which is financed by the U.S. government.

But the new channels “are high-profile projects, and the increased diversity will put pressure on the market leaders to distinguish themselves,” Mr. Khalil said.

While the new channels missed out on the revolutions in Tunisia, Egypt and Libya, as well as uprisings in other Arab countries, executives say they are confident that demand for news will continue to grow. …more