TV Middle East & Africa MIPCOM & MYCONTENT DUBAI 2011

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MIPCOM & MYCONTENT DUBAI EDITION

Arab Spring M-Net Turns 25 www.tvmea.ws

THE MAGAZINE OF MIDDLE EASTERN & AFRICAN TV

OCTOBER 2011

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Discovery Enterprises International www.discoveryenterprisesinternational.com • • • • •

IN THIS ISSUE Brave New Middle East

Prophets of Science Fiction Rising: Rebuilding Ground Zero Last Shuttle: Our Journey Dinosaur Revolution I’m Pregnant and...

The tenth anniversary of the tragic events of 9/11 just passed, but interest in the topic remains strong. A massive effort is currently under way to reshape Ground Zero into an expansive 16-acre complex. To document this historic effort, Discovery Channel was on the ground alongside the men and women who have worked to make this vision a reality. From executive producer Steven Spielberg, Rising: Rebuilding Ground Zero is a six-part series that looks at Ground Zero’s rise from the ashes.The title is being offered by Discovery Enterprises International (DEI). Also on the DEI slate are Prophets of Science Fiction, a biographical exploration of eight science-fiction visionaries; Last Shuttle: Our Journey; Dinosaur Revolution; and a second season of I’m Pregnant and….

The Arab Spring protests have reshaped Middle Eastern media 6

25 Years of M-Net Jan du Plessis on the broadcaster’s anniversary

Ricardo Seguin Guise

Rising: Rebuilding Ground Zero

Publisher Anna Carugati

Editor Mansha Daswani

Executive Editor Kristin Brzoznowski

Managing Editor Marissa Graziadio

Editorial Assistant Simon Weaver

Last Shuttle: Our Journey

Online Director Craig Brown Michelle Villas

Production & Design Directors

FremantleMedia Enterprises

Phyllis Q. Busell

Art Director Cesar Suero

Sales & Marketing Director

www.fmescreenings.com

Terry Acunzo

Winners and Losers

• The Wedding Band • Winners and Losers • Kidnap & Ransom • Work of Art: The Next Great Artist • Anthony Bourdain: No Reservations

The markets in the Middle East and Africa have become more sophisticated, notes Jamie Lynn, the senior VP for Middle East, Southern Europe and Africa at FremantleMedia Enterprises (FME). “As a result, their appetite for quality content across all genres has significantly increased,” he adds. “From big U.S. and U.K. drama, entertainment shows, lifestyle, comedy and factual, we have seen increased interest in all areas. FME has a diverse portfolio...that can cater to all.” He points to the dramas The Wedding Band, Winners and Losers and Kidnap & Ransom, as well as the entertainment-based Work of Art: The Next Great Artist and travel show Anthony Bourdain: No Reservations. “We plan to put more investment and resources into the region whilst continuing to work on growing our existing partnerships and forming new ones,” says Lynn.

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Business Affairs Manager Vanessa Brand

Sales & Marketing Assistant

Ricardo Seguin Guise

President Anna Carugati

Executive VP & Group Editorial Director

“ The television

industry in the Middle East and Africa has seen tremendous development in recent years.

”

—Jamie Lynn

Mansha Daswani

VP of Strategic Development TV Middle East & Africa © 2011 WSN INC. 1123 Broadway, #1207 New York, NY 10010 Phone: (212) 924-7620 Fax: (212) 924-6940 Website:

www.tvmea.ws

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Mondo TV S.p.A. www.mondotv.it • Playtime Buddies • Dinofroz • Virus Attack • Beast Keeper • Monsters & Pirates

Playtime Buddies

Mondo TV S.p.A. has made inroads in the Middle Eastern market. The company has firmed up a deal with Al Jazeera Children’s Channel for Playtime Buddies. Dinofroz, Virus Attack and Beast Keeper also are on the table in some very advanced negotiations. And Angel’s Friends has been acquired by a free-to-air channel in Morocco and a licensing agency is working on the L&M rights across the North of Africa. Monsters & Pirates is also available for the region’s buyers. “In the Middle East, having kids’ animated programs and working directly with broadcasters, you need to have the series available in an Arabic version,” says Micheline Azoury, the head of international sales and brand manager. “Mondo TV works directly channel by channel, having our library and all our new programs available in Arabic, and for Africa, it’s needed in English and French too.”

Monsters & Pirates

twofour54 www.twofour54.com • Driver Dan’s Story Train

The first season of Driver Dan’s Story Train has been a success on CBeebies. Season two is now in production with 3Line Media and Blink Studios, with twofour54 planning to deliver the new installment later this year.The second season features new characters such as Bippity the Robot and new environments such as a magical forest and a skate park.“Driver Dan’s Story Train works for its target kids’ audience as it engages them in interactive storytelling in a way that invites them to participate in the story, acting out favorite sequences and having fun with their imaginations,” says Jane Smith, the general manager of twofour54. “The characters, themselves led by Dan our fearless lion, are beautifully designed and hand crafted and translated into high-quality CGI which retains their bright colors and textures. Three different elements make up the show: an initial adventure featuring a number of the cast with a resolution, which leads us to a story being told in Story Corner, and finally the live-action kids shot against green screen interacting with illustrations from the story books—a truly multimedia series with broad global appeal.”

Smith adds,“Stories and game play are universal themes to be enjoyed by kids the world over.”

“This market will focus on

continuing the global rollout of Driver Dan’s Story Train as well as introducing new concepts from the region to potential partners.

”

Driver Dan’s Story Train

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—Jane Smith

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Arabsat beams numerous channels across the Middle East.

The protests taking place across the Middle East are bringing dramatic changes to the broadcasting landscape.

Brave New

Middle East

By Chris Forrester For years any rebellious coup d’état would simply target the presidential palace, followed quickly by the local radio station.

Control of those two gave any revolutionary a much better chance of success. Today’s Arab Spring series of Middle East uprisings have taken those traditional targets one step further: now they target the satellite TV stations, and throughout the Arab world this latest fresh taste of democracy has resulted in some dramatic changes to the broadcasting landscape.

Almost without exception, viewers have turned away from their state-backed news outlets and instead turned to independent news sources. Al Jazeera out of Qatar and MBC’s Al Arabiya have done exceptionally well, as have trusted non-Arab broadcasters such as BBC World and CNN International.

SPRING AWAKENINGS

The series of popular revolutions started on December 17, 2010, in Tunisia. The president was toppled. The uprising spread to Algeria by December 28, Lebanon by January 12, 2011, and Jordan by January 14. Mauritania followed on January 17, along with Sudan and Oman on the same day.

Morocco saw street protests on January 30. Saudi Arabia 482

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experienced unheard of street demonstrations on January 21. By January 25, the street demonstrations in the Middle East’s cultural and political heartland of Egypt were measured in the hundreds of thousands. Eighteen days later, President Hosni Mubarak resigned. Yemen was in full civil war

by February 3, and Iraq saw major street demonstrations start on February 10, followed by Bahrain on February 14. Libya’s protesters rose on February 15. Kuwait saw its first protests on February 18. Syria’s protesters were kept in check until March 15, when civilians attacked public buildings.

Foreign journalists got well-merited credit for helping to foment and publicize popular uprisings against the region’s despots. Satellite TV stations, Al Jazeera in particular, struck at the very roots of power in many Arab states by making official censorship irrelevant and by competing very successfully against government propaganda.

The backlash against government authority was most public in Egypt and saw the arrest in February of President Hosni Mubarak. The transformation at the giant Nile-side Egyptian Radio and Television Union (ERTU) building was almost instantaneous. Within hours of Mubarak stepping down, Egypt’s state-supported television began congratulating the 10/11

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A panoramic view: Al Arabiya was one of several news networks bringing coverage of the protests to viewers across the region.

Egyptian people “for their pure great revolution, led by the best of the Egyptian youth.” The next day, Egypt’s MENA state news agency issued a statement assuring the people that “Egyptian TV will be honest in carrying its message” and since it “is owned by the people of Egypt [it] will be in their service.”

A few days later the arrests started. “Corruption, nepotism, favoritism and a waste of public money are pervasive inside [the Nile-side TV building].You can see signs of them everywhere,” said Shahira Amin, a well-known Nile TV news anchor who quit in early February in protest at what was being done by government forces. “The whole system should be changed,” she argued.

A former Egyptian Minister of Information, Anas al-Fiqi, was arrested on February 23 on charges of corruption. A few hours later, Osama el-Sheikh, ERTU’s chairman, was arrested. Both were impris- V for victory: The Cairo protests in January eventually resulted in the oned pending trials. Egypt’s attorney general has resignation of President Hosni Mubarak. frozen the assets of both men, and forbidden them is signal jamming in our region,” Hamza says. “The probto leave the country.

The Arab Spring, at least as far as Egypt’s broadcasting free- lem itself is not new, but what is now different is the intendoms are concerned, has resulted in even greater demand for sity of the jamming.” satellite capacity, says Salah Hamza, chief technology officer at NileSat, which operates satellites beaming 600-plus channels JAMM SESSION across North Africa and the Middle East. “The new freedoms One major broadcaster hit by signal jamming in March was Dubai-based MBC and its Al Arabiya all-news channel. The we are seeing in the Middle East are leading to fresh demand,” says Hamza. “Would-be broadcasters want to be jamming, said experts, came from somewhere south of the on our neighborhood. This itself could lead to a major flow- Libyan capital of Tripoli. Al Jazeera also suffered badly at the hands of thugs. One of its journalists was murdered on March ering of creativity. In general, the national stations have fallen 12 while filming in Libya. Wadah Khanfar, director general well behind the private [non-government] channels. Egypt’s new Prime Minister [Essam Sharaf] seemed to recognize this of Al Jazeera Network, said at the time: “To those who are when he first visited the private TV channels prior to visit- trying to muzzle Al Jazeera through criminal acts, killing its ing Egypt’s public channels. He feels that if he wants to talk to correspondents and those working for it, blocking its signal, or jamming its signal, I would like to tell them that no one people he has to address the private channels, where the masscan hide the truth.We live in times where the truth is defended market viewers are.” by soldiers who believe in a true message, and we will continue to deliver our message no matter what the cost.”

THE FLOODGATES OPEN NileSat’s Hamza says his team could do very little. “They On April 17, Egypt’s General Authority for Investment and were jamming several transponders at the same time, affecting Free Zones (GAFI)—which overseas the Egyptian Media Production City (EMPC) and the NileSat transmission facil- Al Jazeera, Alhurra, Al Arabiya and others, all news channels. ity—said that the country’s new, more relaxed regulations The broadcasters involved were being moved to spare frewere designed to attract fresh investment in the media sec- quencies on our satellites but the jamming was at very high tor. Under the new legislation, broadcasters will no longer power levels. We were left with very little that we could have to obtain the approval of Egypt’s security services. The do, even reducing the actual power of the satellite was not first flood of applicants saw 16 new channels approved by having much effect. Then there was jamming of the Libyan the end of April. Osama Saleh, GAFI’s chairman, announced main channel by the Libyan opposition. So we had jamthat security will no longer make inquiries into Egyptians ming from government supporters and anti-government who wish to establish satellite channels, and that channels will supporters in Libya.” be granted licenses to present general entertainment rather These problems aside, Hamza is optimistic: “Today, we have than specialized content. more clients than ever. We now have a long list of private While this is creating fresh opportunities for NileSat, individuals and organizations who want to broadcast TV there are also problems. “What is really bothering us today channels on NileSat, and now have the freedom to do so.

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Center of the action: Tony Birtley, one of Al Jazeera English’s correspondents, reporting from the Arab Spring protests.

There’s another change. A few months back, under the old regime, we were obliged to remove certain channels.They are now all back on air with us, and can I say the new processes are a little more relaxed than under the old regime.”

Hamza is right. The Arab League, on May 15, formally asked Arabsat and NileSat to cease transmissions of Libya’s Jamahiriya Satellite Channel and “any other channel” that might be sympathetic to the Libyan government. The decision was taken at the end of a special meeting in Cairo on the same day. However, the request placed the satellite operators in something of a dilemma: they held valid long-term contracts with the Libyans. It took almost a month for the Libyan state-backed channels to be switched off.

AN UNCERTAIN FUTURE

The Egyptian Arab Spring is far from over.There was an election promised for some time in October, and despite these new freedoms, some are anxious that the opportunities for critical voices might dry up following an election.

There are other risks. “Raising the ceiling of free expression in the wake of the revolution has lured the mass media in general to pick up thrilling stories and offer sensational material that drifts from the basic target of the media service in favor of commercial [interests],” says Cairo-based media expert Yasser Abdel-Aziz, adding that lifting the lid off a once tightly-controlled media has generated a fervent tendency in the opposite direction.

The new freedoms are encouraging heavyweight players to directly enter the TV market. Fast-growing Middle East broadcasting group Rotana, in which Rupert Murdoch’s News Corporation is a significant shareholder, launched a general-entertainment channel specifically for the giant Egyptian market. Rotana is backed by Saudi billionaire Prince Alwaleed bin Talal. The decision is a direct attack on 486

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Egypt’s state-backed ERTU cluster of channels. Moreover, the channel features Dr. Hala Sarhan, the president of Rotana Studios and an extremely popular face on Egyptian television.

Fahad Alsukait, the CEO of the Rotana Group, said the new channel confirms the company’s strong commitment to Egyptian viewers and is part of the company’s broader plans to increase its presence in the country. He added: “We continue to believe in the strong market growth Egypt will enjoy medium to long term and our investment in the new channel expresses such confidence and fits with the business plan of the group.”

There are plenty of other new channels in the region. Getting a firm hand on how many have launched since the start of the Arab Spring is difficult. Some feeling for the rate of progress can be seen in Arab Advisors Group’s (AAG) latest report. The number of free-to-air satellite TV channels in the Arab world available on Arabsat, NileSat and NOORSAT increased by 10.5 percent between April 2010 and April 2011, reaching 538 (excluding those in test transmission phase, 501 are fully operational, up from 448). AAG research revealed that private-sector general-entertainment channels dominate, accounting for about 20 percent of the total number of free-to-air networks in operation, followed by government-sector general channels.

TUNING IN

Analysts at Omnicom Media say TV viewing during the Arab Spring expanded dramatically. In the first quarter of this year daily TV consumption rose to six hours in Saudi Arabia and to five hours in the United Arab Emirates, as viewers across the region looked to stay up to date on the latest developments in other parts of the Arab world. The news channels, in particular, reported viewership gains, with audiences flocking to Al Jazeera and Al Arabiya. Omnicom indicates that the two channels almost doubled their viewing figures in February. Meanwhile, global satellite services like BBC World and CNN International experienced a 78-percent gain in audience numbers in Q1, as Western expats in the region also sought out regular updates on the turmoil.

Advertising revenue in the Arab world is also starting to recover after a staggering regional loss of US$100 million in February alone, when marketers apparently got cold feet in case the companies they represented were accused of political bias during times of tumult. Regional media expenditure has, reports Omnicon, been rising since March.

Indeed, while the political outcome of the Arab Spring is far from certain, the broadcasting outcome seems extremely healthy.There are new channels, and new freedoms of expression on existing channels. There will, inevitably, be teething problems in these new found freedoms, but hopefully over time the violent swings of the recent broadcasting pendulum will settle at mid-point.

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Years of

By Anna Carugati

25

M-Net The Electronic Media Network, or M-Net, was established in 1985 as South Africa’s first private subscription television service. Its first broadcast, in October 1986, consisted of just one 12-hour channel.

M-Net has grown significantly over the course of the last 25 years and today it operates an array of general-entertainment and niche channels, which reach more than 2.5 million subscribers in 41 countries across Africa.

It wasn’t always easy in the early days of M-Net. Few in the South African media industry at the time believed that M-Net could reach its target goal of 30,000 subscribers. Headlines in the press declared, “Pay TV will not succeed in South Africa” and “Battle of the box begins” and “Gloves off in TV warfare.”

And indeed, in the first test broadcast, which was of a rugby final match, the first commercial, “Quest for Zero Defect” from National Panasonic, aired with no audio.

But M-Net remained focused on its goal and by February 1987 had installed 8,226 multi-user decoders in apartment blocks and won a contract with the Protea Hotel Group. By March, individual decoders were available and M-Net started broadcasting to private homes, and by October it had reached 50,000 subscribers.

The key to M-Net’s success was its simple TV recipe: blockbuster movies and must-watch sports. Initially the pay service’s audience consisted predominantly of affluent white households. But with political and economic change in South Africa over the years, M-Net’s audience has become much more diverse, and so has its programming. Today it offers a bouquet of channels that cater to different age groups and viewing tastes. Besides acquiring the best programming from around the world, M-Net has invested significantly in local productions, whether its own Studio 53, or adaptations of renowned international formats such as Big Brother and Idols.

Jan du Plessis, who started at M-Net as head of acquisitions and today is director of channels, explains the reasons for M-Net’s success.

TV MIDDLE EAST & AFRICA: M-Net’s motto is “Where magic lives.” What key factors have contributed to the magic and to the viewer loyalty M-Net has gained over the years?

DU PLESSIS: A dynamic, forward-thinking vision, supported by both international and local content providers, coupled with a very hard-working team and a quality-driven platform provider, are among the key factors that have contributed to the magic and viewer loyalty M-Net has gained over the years.

TV MIDDLE EAST & AFRICA: As the TV landscape in South

Africa becomes more competitive, what is M-Net’s mission?

DU PLESSIS: M-Net’s mission is to remain at the forefront

of the consumer’s mind by continuing to live by and provide precisely that which our motto depicts, “Magic.” This will be achieved through the implementation of market-leading content strategies, made available in various ways, on multiple platforms and to a wider reach of the market.

TV MIDDLE EAST & AFRICA: Has TopTV’s entrance into the pay-TV market had an impact on M-Net’s strategy?

DU PLESSIS: Competition is always good for the market and the entry of TopTV to the arena has ensured that M-Net continues to strive towards the provision of unique world-class quality entertainment offerings for our different target markets who are served by our 30 channels.

TV MIDDLE EAST & AFRICA: What is the role of imported

programming in M-Net’s offering?

DU PLESSIS: The demand for international content is very high and therefore international features and series play a very important role in M-Net’s content offering. Our relationships with all of the main studios and independent suppliers are integral in providing top-notch international features and series on the M-Net platforms.

TV MIDDLE EAST & AFRICA: What has been your strategy

for original productions? What do you want to offer your viewers and which productions have been most successful?

DU PLESSIS: M-Net offers several niche channels for different target audiences across Africa and creates original productions to fulfill the viewing needs of all our subscribers. Creative, Afro-centric productions that can travel well across the globe 488

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sioned more than 170 local productions for our channels in the past financial year.We’ve also created new opportunities for on-screen talent. A number of celebrities now have their own shows on Mzansi Magic [M-Net’s local entertainment channel]. And finally, we have [trained] young industry talent by means of CSI (corporate social investment) projects, such as the TAG Awards and M-Net New Directions, which give young people and newcomers to the industry [the chance] to see their work on television.

TV MIDDLE EAST & AFRICA: Are there plans to add more channels to the M-Net lineup?

DU PLESSIS: M-Net always has exciting plans up its sleeve to ensure that we continue to adapt to the latest trends and possible changing tastes of our viewers.

TV MIDDLE EAST & AFRICA: How are you extending

Making music: M-Net has adapted several global formats as part of its original programming strategy, including FremantleMedia’s Idols.

form a part of this strategy. One of our most exciting productions to date is the groundbreaking new soap The Wild, which was launched [this year]. The half-hour soap is filmed entirely on location and revolves around the drama and intrigue at an African game lodge.

M-Net’s program offering onto digital platforms such as online and mobile?

DU PLESSIS: M-Net provides content to platforms such as DStv Mobile and DStv on Demand and supports the growth of these new platforms wholeheartedly.

TV MIDDLE EAST & AFRICA: What are some of the major

issues affecting the South African TV market?

TV MIDDLE EAST & AFRICA: How has M-Net helped the

DU PLESSIS: Major issues include broadband and technology

local production and filmmaking communities?

advancement constraints to keep up with the international market.

DU PLESSIS: M-Net is very supportive of the local produc-

tion and filmmaking communities. We provide funding and creative support to various projects.

To mention a few of our efforts: We have provided greater opportunity to entry-level filmmakers by commissioning “bubblegum” movies. By doing this, we have created more jobs for local actors and film crews. We have invested more than R8 million ($1.1 million) in licensing local content owned by local independent production companies, and we have commis-

TV MIDDLE EAST & AFRICA: What opportunities and

challenges do you foresee in the next 12 to 24 months?

DU PLESSIS: Opportunities and challenges are part and

parcel of our game. However, M-Net foresees the evolving television consumption model as an opportunity to keep the magic flowing with transmedia initiatives being the key in cross-platform consumption. A challenge will be to keep up with consumers’ evolving needs on different platforms.

M-Net Today Launched in 1986 as a single-channel offering, the M-Net portfolio today consists of:

kykNET: Broadcasts only in Afrikaans and its programming includes talk shows, variety and music shows, local dramas and cooking shows.

real-time link-ups to some of M-Net’s other brands.

M-Net: Offering the latest movies, series, the

Africa Magic Hausa: Features the best in

best international sports coverage on SuperSport, kids’ entertainment on KTV and much more.

Hausa-language films.

Channel O: Offers music television that showcases the best African talent and videos.

Africa Magic Yoruba: Offers the best in M-Net Movies 1: A 24-hour channel providing up to 100 different movie titles a month with no commercial breaks.

M-Net Series: Dedicated to series from the ’60s through to the ’90s. It spans many genres from drama to comedy, action, sci-fi and romance.

Mzansi Magic: Features locally produced content as well as local and international feature films, music specials, documentaries and soaps.

Africa Magic: An entertainment channel for African programming.

Africa Magic Plus: Offers African entertain-

M-Net Action: Offers high-impact action movies and series.

ment showcasing filmmaking and storytelling from Africa (excluding Nigeria).

M-Net Stars: Offers a range of movies that are

Magic World: Features original productions,

contemporary classics.

African film fare, sport, classic series repeats and

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Yoruba-language films.

VUZU: A youth-focused entertainment channel for young Africans, with a combination of big-name international series and locally produced shows.

Koowee: Aimed at children under the age of six.

The channel was conceptualized to be the first multilingual kids’ channel in Africa.

MK: Broadcasts Afrikaans music videos and music-related programming for a younger audience.

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