Finally got my MTV

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MTV Networks vice chairman Bill Roedy.

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MTV Networks managing director Bhavneet Singh.

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It's not too difficult to imagine what kind of boss Bill Roedy might be. As members of his staff and PR fill the Madinat Theatre area, it seems more of a party than a job. Everyone is on a little adventure. Roedy himself can't conceal his excitement. For a man in his late fifties, Roedy's face is brimming with the energy of a 10-year old. In the cut-throat media industry, Roedy seems to be on top of the world. The vice chairman of MTV Networks current location might be one reason why.

"It's hard not to like Dubai, it's just so energetic. It's kind of like the gold rush," he says grinning, describing the emirate as one of the most booming communities in the entire world.

"People talk about Shanghai, which is incredible too, but it's really quite amazing what goes on here. I'm always quite impressed, every time I come down, to see the towers taller and the islands bigger. Everything is bigger and better, like there's no limit," he says.

Roedy's obviously still enjoying the festivities, glitz and glamour, following the biggest launch in the network's history so far. On November 15, at just around 8:30pm, an overwhelmed and excited crowd held their breath as soul singer Akon and rapper Ludacris took to the stage in their first appearances in the Middle East.

R&B sensation Karl Wolf performed his recent hits, in addition to a number of regional artists. MTV Arabia was also flashed on the TV screens of over 190 million Arabs in the Middle East to enjoy music and cultural content from the region.

"The Arab world is extremely important to us," says Roedy, adding: "It's amazing; musically but also culturally. It's a privilege for us to be here, show our material on the channel and be invited into people's homes. It's an opportunity because of the creativity; the music is fantastic and will be showcased outside the region. It will play a big role in our family of channels."

And Roedy is seldom wrong. The MTV networks comprises over 143 cable, satellite and terrestrial TV channels viewed by a potential global audience of 1.5 billion. The company has developed and launched more channels and networks than any other entertainment counterpart. And Roedy has been the man behind establishing over 100 of these channels.

The network's rapid expansion across the globe, spanning Europe, Asia-Pacific, Africa, Latin America and now the Middle East, has been widely attributed to Roedy's innovative strategy of reflecting the ideas, diversity, and the youth cultures of the audience. Roedy's creative and freedom-in-business approach lifted MTV to new heights, establishing it as one of the top 10 most recognised consumer brands in the world, a pop culture phenomenon and a comprehensive music and entertainment outlet reaching youth around the world on-air and online.

The ex-military man is not about to lower his benchmark when it comes to MTV Arabia. Despite refusing to predict the number of viewers for the newly-launched channel, he is very optimistic.

"Typically we have a very strong audience with young people, and the demographics work very nicely for us here; 65% are under 25. I don't want to predict but I would expect our viewership to be a little bit higher than our MTVs around the world," he says.

As MTV audiences around the world have become accustomed to, the channel offers much more than just music videos.

"Music is our middle name obviously, but we cover all the cultural trends, anything that is really important to our audience like youth culture which can be fashion or movies - perhaps shows that are driven towards that," says Roedy.

In addition to programmes targeting and involving youth, MTV has aspired and successfully created a culture of its own with a wide range of hit shows. MTV Arabia is not about to become an exception.

"We'll have some reality stuff; we already have Arabic versions of international shows that have been very successful. Made is one, which is a career thing, and Barrio 19, [Al Hara' for the Arabic version] which is kind of a hip hop culture urban sporting show with a twist," he says, promising: "We'll have lots of shows, expand the whole youth culture and we'll also bring some shows here."

Roedy expects MTV Arabia's flagship show Hip HopNa to be a massive hit in the region, seeing as how hip hop has become such a big part of youth culture. "I think that will be very popular," he says.

Splitting content for MTV between programmes and music videos is a time-consuming task. A ratio can't be determined just yet as the reaction of the audience is crucial.

"We're constantly researching. That's a very important part of our model. We're pursuing so many different ways to stay completely attached to the consumer. Many of our MTVs, however, are music only. There is quite a range so we'll see how it goes with MTV Arabia," he says. Given his long tenure at the company, he probably will be on top of all the developments in the Middle East operation.

Roedy has been around for a while, seeing the channel through its different stages of evolution and witnessing the expansion of its network. Looking back at almost 20 years with MTV, Roedy sees the channel's tremendous growth as the biggest change.

"It's the most amazingly diverse collection of channels; something that you don't really see with other media companies. The product, therefore, changes dramatically as you go around the world. That's really the number one change and we're of course now in front of a larger audience."

MTV, which started as a solely music channel, tends to generate content that targets the younger generation nowadays.

"We work; we connect with the social issues," says Roedy, whose extensive travels and advocacy on HIV and AIDS earned him the position of Ambassador for UNAIDS (the joint United Nations programme on HIV and AIDS) in 1998. In the Middle East, Roedy says the channel will start with a focus on education.

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