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Tag: Jazeera

  • Al Jazeera to go public; US pressure seen as being involved

    Al Jazeera to go public; US pressure seen as being involved

    MUMBAI: Al Jazeera – possibly the most controversial media entity of the recent times in the Middle East, and a wholly financed company by the Qatari government – is accelerating plans to sell off the channel to private buyers. In order to maintain a certain control over editorial content, the channel is even contemplating going public.

    The move is widely perceived as being influenced by increasing pressure from the US authorities, more so because Qatar is a key ally of the the Bush administration in the region.

    As regards the quantum of equity that will be open to the public, Qatari government spokesperson Jihad Ballut has been quoted by AFP as saying: “There will be restrictions in the shares offer and we don’t know (yet) if it will be on offer locally, regionally or internationally.”

    According to reports in sections of Arab and Western media, a spokesperson for the channel said that the form of privatisation would be decided over the coming months.

    Media reports suggest that the task of the channel would be to explore the best possibility for a sell out. The reason sighted by senior Qatari officials is that the pressure has been so intense that “We really have a headache, not just from the United States but from advertisers and from other countries as well.”

    The government is accelerating plans to put Al Jazeera on the market. Though Bush administration officials counter that a privately owned station in the region may be no better from their point of view.

    The channel’s audience range has been estimated to be approximately 30 million to 50 million. Despite a wide audience; the reach does not translate into profitability, and the station relies vastly on subsidy from the Qatari government. The official is also quoted saying that Qatar hoped to find a buyer within a year.

    The channel gained popularity after displaying taped messages of Osama Bin Laden and anti Bush reports during and post Afghanistan and Iraq war. Qatari sponsored channel has been criticised largely by the US authorities for broadcasting inflammatory information against US.

    The channel is planning to launch an English-language channel, Al Jazeera International and also to start up a documentary channel and kids’ channel in 2005.

  • Middle East Broadcasting to launch 24-hour news channel in mid-February

    Middle East Broadcasting to launch 24-hour news channel in mid-February

    CAIRO: Satellite broadcaster Middle East Broadcasting Centre (MBC) will launch a 24-hour Arabic news channel, Al Arabiya, in mid-February with an estimated investment of US $200 million to compete with Al Jazeera, the Qatar based channel.

    Arabiya’s all-news format will include sports, business, commentaries, panel discussions and hourly bulletins, with an emphasis on news of particular interest in the Arab world.

    An Adage report quotes MBC officials as saying that Al Arabiya, slated to go live between 15-20 February, will have a non-sensationalist approach and should be perceived by the Western world as more balanced than Al Jazeera.

     
    The channel is backed by MBC, Lebanon’s Hariri Group, and other investors from Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and the Gulf states. Content will be produced by newly formed Middle East News, with a staff strength of about 400.

    “People in this region are lacking a credible source of news,” said MBC operations director Assad Abu al Jadail. “Jazeera made the breakthrough [in news] but you don’t always know the agenda.”

    Part of Arabiya’s long-term aim is to promote stability and democracy in the region, he said.

    Ad agency executives in the Middle East are eager to see Arabiya but said MBC hasn’t told them much yet. They said MBC should do well financially because it has a powerful ad-sales operation and has developed a good reputation for fairness with its flagship MBC channel, which runs general entertainment and an hour per day of news programs.

    Interest from advertisers 

    Jadail was quoted as saying that no major ad contracts have been signed as yet but that the network is seeing interest from advertisers. Advertisers on MBC include Procter & Gamble, Unilever’s Lipton, PepsiCo and Volkswagen.

     

    The state department said it has no plans to run its advertising campaign promoting the US as an Arab-friendly nation on Al Arabiya.

    WPP group’s JWT/TMI Beirut CEO Roy Haddads was quoted in Adage as saying that MBC should appeal to multinational and Saudi Arabian advertisers that don’t want to support Al Jazeera. “The whole objective is to counteract the sensational approach of Jazeera,” Haddads was quoted as saying.

    Impact of war 

    One wild card is the pending war with Iraq. While observers believe a war could mean high ratings for news coverage on Al Arabiya, it’s hard to tell whether US advertisers will avoid advertising on the station in the event of war. However, multinational advertisers often have local ad offices that may continue buying ad time in the region.

    MBC was founded 11 years ago by Saudi Sheikh Waleed Al Ibrahim and other Saudi investors. Michel Costandi, business development director, claimed MBC will be self-sustaining in advertising in the first 12 months, an ambitious goal say media experts.

    Low ad spending in region 

    After three years of recession, Middle East advertising spending totals only about $1 billion, Interpublic’s TN Communications chairman Tarek Nour was quoted as saying. Among the satellite channels, MBC captures the most ads, followed by Lebanon’s Future TV and Lebanese Broadcasting Corp., then Al Jazeera. Although Al Jazeera’s owner, the Emir of Qatar, said when he started the station in 1996 that it needs to become self-supporting, advertisers have been wary.

    “It’s clear they are having a problem in attracting advertising,” Arabiya’s Haddad was quoted as saying.

    At Al Jazeera headquarters in Qatar, executives said they were too busy to comment, says the Adage report.