Victor Webb (didn't attend) Nov 0504

Those of you who look at the Middle East as a prospective market and wonder how you might promote product, services, ideas and so forth via the media might be forgiven for believing that Al Jazeera is, in fact, the only Mid East media available to the Arab public.

In fact, Al Jazeera has become a vital pan Arab outlet – perhaps the most vital. In Saudi Arabia, it reaches more of the male population than any of the Saudi national television networks. But how does the rest of the media fair in the Mid East? Where do the various Arab populations go for their information and in what form is it presented to them?

Let me begin by saying that the media outlets in the Middle East are many – increasingly sophisticated and competitive. Television, newspapers, magazines, radio, outdoor and internet are all readily available and play a vital role in the development of public opinion and commerce both domestic and international.

Media can be either pan regional - reaching into many countries throughout the region - or national operating only within individual countries.

Region wide, the predominant media, in terms of news impact, reach and revenue is television – whether satellite or government controlled or privately owned – followed by newspapers, magazines and radio. Incidentally, other forms of communication include outdoor posters and, of course, the Internet, a rapidly growing force.

With the introduction of satellite television and the steady growth of internet access, it would be fair to say that the Arab media has undergone something of a revolution in the past 10 – 15 years. While government run newspapers and television stations have remained largely unchanged, they have been losing influence to satellite television, the internet and to the station competitors backed by private finance - or funded - though not directly controlled by governments. Earlier censorship, restrictions on access and high prices that tended to stunt internet growth in the Middle East have lessoned considerably so that subscribers throughout the region are also using the internet to erode controls through information. A phenomenon, incidentally, occurring not simply in the Middle East but in many other regions throughout the world.

Many international organizations find that they are able to disseminate news more effectively then ever. Newspapers are posting stories online that were previously censored in their printed editions. Some governments have even given up trying to control internet content. Egypt and Jordan are among those who allow news online even though it is censored and even taboo to the print media.

Access to internet is still relatively expensive - $70 per month in some countries - which tends to ensure a small and mostly elite audience. It is estimated that around 13 million individuals throughout the Middle East access the internet each day. After a slow start internet use is growing in most countries and information technology receives much attention from Arab media and is a subject of frequent conferences.

Regarding satellite television, it has been said that in modern history there has been nothing to equal the Arab satellite television channels in changing political attitudes in the Arab world. There are around 30 pan regional satellite channels currently traversing the region. The 4 most proven being Al Jazeera, Alamid, Abudhabi and LBC in Al Hiad. As many as 70 – 80% of all television viewers watch these channels. The average time spent on watching television in the Arab household amounts to 3 – 4 ½ hours depending upon the country. Alamid, LBC and Al Hiad are privately owned while Al Jazeera and Abudhabi receive government support. All of them, however, enjoy broad editorial freedom and political independence.

News coverage in the Arab world delivered by satellite television remained the province of foreign media – notably, CNN - until the 1991 Gulf War. Independent news on these channels was presented in English but now political analysis comes in Arabic from correspondents and analysts. This has led to a real change in the way realities are presented to the Arab viewers

especially those representing Palestine and Iraqi. These reality shows are no longer filtered through a foreign lens but through indigenous eyes.

Spokesmen from countries in conflict appear regularly on satellite channels expressing their thoughts freely. Many other programs are shown on the satellite channels include talk shows, political commentary programs about women’s issues and investigative reports. These focus on issues, ideas and problems that used to be hard to find on state broadcast media. Old taboos against criticism of state policies and government corruption or calling for political or social change have diminished considerably with the advent of cable television. One can only imagine the growing consternation of some of the regions government agencies.

Talk shows have become the most popular thing on air. They regularly show academic discussion on history, economics and literature as well as shows with viewer participation often reduced to shouting matches about sensitive issues.

Interview shows featuring government officials, specialists, foreign correspondents, even activists lobbying for women’s causes are popular. In fact, programmers have seen a growing interest in discussions about women and their political agenda. Moreover, many women are working as news anchors, hosting debate programs and reporting from the field as correspondents. They have well become increasingly influential consumers so that, increasingly, many television advertisements are beamed at the women.

However, the future of satellite stations is still very much in question.

According to media experts few have proven to be profitable. “At the end of the day our capacity to absorb losses must come to an end,” said one company which runs several government owned television channels and newspapers in the UAE. “If you look at local Arab advertising revenue -on which we relythese have been spent so far in print, newspapers and magazines,” he added.

Which leads me to print media.

So contrary to what people once thought, newspapers are not dying in the Middle East although some of the pan regional magazines, once the domain of Lebanese publishers, have disappeared. Despite the challenges from satellite television, radio and the internet and the loss of younger readership, newspapers and magazines have prevailed. There are many stories in the Middle East that require in-depth coverage that only print media can provide.

It would seem people still read newspapers for local information and go for satellite for regional and international news. As a result, advertising revenues in print media reached record levels in 2004.

Direct government control over the content of newspapers is still evident in many Mid East countries but is diminishing. However, newspapers in most of the Gulf States and in places like Syria and Tunisia – whether governmental or privately owned – still cannot print news or comment on political affairs

that displease authorities. However, print media in Kuwait, Algeria and Lebanon are having a much easier time and in places like Dubai, one is hardly conscious of any censorship at all whether political or religious.

Radio and television remain vital media because of the region’s relatively low literacy rate. Although local broadcasts have mostly remained government controlled, satellite television, radio and internet have clipped steadily away at their electronic media monopoly. With the price of satellite dishes coming down, more and more people in the Arab world now tune in to foreign news channels as alternatives to sometimes dull local newspaper and television stations. Iran, Saudi Arabia, Syria and, of course, Iraq, among other nations, have tried, at other times, to restrict or ban satellite dishes now very much part of the Middle East countries. Most of these country bans on dishes are hardly enforced. Even in Saudi Arabia, which has some of the strictest regulations governing satellite television, dishes can be plainly seen on roofs.

A word about the Al Jazeera satellite channel. This is, undoubtedly, the dominant regional news source and has become a model for others to follow.

Founded 8 years ago on a start up grant from the Qatari government, Al Jazeera has revolutionized news coverage in the Arab world, presenting uncensored reporting and open debates on regional issues and events. “It would not be surprising if, in 50 years, the establishment of Al Jazeera is considered one of the key developments in Arab politics at the end of the 20th

century,” wrote one commentator recently. Many in the U.S. would contend that this particular network’s reporting is biased and that they are intent on sparking controversy and disseminating anti- American propaganda.

Unfortunately Arab viewers are hardly likely to agree Having talked of editorial content and its delivery, what of advertising?

So far this year $1.3 billion has been spent by advertisers in various media in the Gulf States alone. The Middle East, for all of its political turmoil and diversification, remains a huge and looming market for U.S. and international goods and services and this fact is reflected in their fast, growing advertising budgets. Consider the ad expenditures of the most ardent wooers of Arab fast food consumers. Kentucky Fried Chicken spent $2,525,000 on outdoor advertising in 2003 while Pizza Hut spent $2,493,000 and Burger King $1,575,000. Not surprisingly, more and more young Arabs are joining us in at least one battle. The battle of the bulge!

Meanwhile, Dove soap, Pepsi, Pantene, Tide, Pampers and Lux – American products all – made the top 12 list of television’s top spenders in the Gulf States Pan Arab and Levant markets.

Ford and Chevrolet were to be found among the top 12 newspaper advertisers spending a little over $132 million between them. Hewlett Packard and Marlboro spent a total of nearly $4 million in the region’s magazines and radio captured Coca Cola and Pepsi between them spending a mere $5,500 in 2002. Most all of these advertisements are placed through Mid East advertising agencies some of which are the regional offices of large Western advertising and PR groups.

Many of the media advertising rate cards are there only for the guidance of the wise rather than their strict adherence and are, as we say, in the business “highly negotiable� So too are the publications circulation figures and readership demographics. It has always been difficult to obtain reliable data from the region on things like salary, job function, professional decisionmaking and the like.

In my experience many of those being interviewed by pollsters will either say more or less than the actual, depending upon whether or not they feel you have an ulterior motive for asking the questions and/or whether such information will be passed on to the tax authorities.

The editorial pages, television and radio have been highly critical of the U.S. governments Mid East policies and the action we have take most recently in Iraq and in regard to the Israeli/Palestine situation, the latter, I believe, being the real Anti-US “cause celeb” throughout the region. However, this does not seem to have diminished the enthusiasm of Arab consumers for U.S. products and services nor has it stymied the hopes and expectations of U.S. companies advertising throughout the region. Quite the contrary, US ad expenditures have shown a healthy increase last year.

Finally, much of the pan regional television is broadcast in English and many newspapers and magazines have English language editions as do many of the internet sites. This is because many Arabs conduct their business in English and enjoy considerable international outreach. It is also because the ex-pat community – Asian, European, American, Latin American and African– still exercise considerable authority in the regions industrial and commercial sectors.

For those of you who would like to research or advertise or in other ways access Middle East media- it is easier then you might think.

Many of the publications, television and radio, are represented in the U.S. Added to which, international media consultants will be happy to describe the region’s television, print and electronic and outdoor media in infinitely greater detail than I have done today.

The Middle East media is, as I have said at the beginning of this brief talk, both sophisticated and highly competitive. It should not be underestimated either in its ability to persuade the people of the Middle East or as a vehicle to carry your company’s message in to some of the world’s receptive and affluent markets. But hurry. It’s also a hugely competitive region where many of your competitors lurk-the Indians, Pakistanis, Japanese, the Europeans, even Latin Americans –all are there and all have learned that whatever the media you choose-in the Middle East- more than ever- it pays to advertise!

Thank you.