Televisionaries

Arab Media Group invests for the long term

The region now has a well-documented collection of media free zones and production cities with more planned in Saudi Arabia and Qatar in the coming years.

The advertised benefits of operating from these industry clusters generally include relaxation of certain labour laws and the convenience of being surrounded by potential partners and related service providers.

Moving operations to one of these dedicated centres also provides the opportunity to design and build the infrastructure required from the ground up, and in line with broader commercial strategies.

The Arab Media Group (AMG) portfolio includes newspapers, magazines, radio stations and TV channels based in several locations across Dubai. The network scored a major publicity boost for the entire region with the launch of MTV and Nickelodeon franchises. These drew international attention to the health of the region's progressive media scene as a whole.

To support these launches, ATN moved into a new facility at Dubai Studio City (DSC) and has embraced the opportunity to operate from the free zone, with four of the group's radio stations also relocating to DSC.

The company is currently leasing space in DSC but has already begun designing a purpose built complex that will become its long-term home.

"We want to ensure that we have the best technology and the most state-of-the-art infrastructure to support our creative and technical staff," says Abdullatif Al Sayegh, CEO, Arab Media Group.

The new facilities are ready to switch to HD as the transmission technology to support it in the region becomes operational. This demonstrates ATN's long term planning and shows that a media free zone can offer substantial operational benefits above and beyond the plush office space and tax breaks that appear.

Abu Dhabi Media Company legitimises online content delivery

GETMO Arabia's main credentials as an innovator come largely with the online content store's business plan.

In recognition of the Middle East's rampant piracy and counterfeiting activity, the Abu Dhabi Media Company (ADMC) chose to look for ways to reduce or even completely remove any cost for the consumer.

A network of commercial partners, typically well-known consumer brands, offer free credit for the GETMO store alongside purchases of their products. Fully subsidised content is also available, offset by the advertising and sponsorship revenues generated on the GETMO portal.

"Brand owners can see the value of their brand being bundled with content to stimulate and increase their market share. In return they are underwriting the cost for us to provide content to the consumer for free. It's a win-win situation," says Ricky Ghai, executive director, digital, ADMC.

The platform includes music, movies and mobile content such as wallpapers. Critically, all of this content is rights protected offering a legal - and often free - alternative to illegal P2P file sharing platforms.

At GITEX 2008, the platform announced a tie up with Samsung mobile connecting customers who purchase Samsung phones directly into the site.

GETMO is just one part of ADMC's digital initiatives, which also include football portal GoalArabia.com and the online homes of ADMC's stable of print and broadcast entities, such as UAE daily newspaper The National.

MBC and Etisalat exploit bumper Ramadan audiences with dedicated online player

The region's largest FTA TV network had a busy year and as usual, the Ramadan musalsals attracted the highest ratings. To further exploit this unique annual opportunity, MBC and UAE telco Etisalat created an internet TV portal to expand the reach of its nine most popular drama series.

The service was an extension of the online portal available in 2007 when the company launched its mobisodes offering with the UAE telco du. Popular comedy show Tash Ma Tash and other content was edited down into four minute packages optimised for mobile phones.

In both cases the content was offered free of charge with MBC happy to market its programming and drive traffic through its website and promote its brand while the respective telco partners see increased traffic and data usage in the case of the mobisodes as well as benefiting from the positive brand association.

Both operations show that the region is not merely talking about these platforms but is actively pursuing them.

"The success of the venture will hopefully offer new opportunities for our viewers to interact with our infotainment," says Dr. Ammar Bakkar, head of New Media, MBC.

Saudi Arabia: Ministry of Culture and Information secures the nation's film archive

While the value and importance of original and entertaining content production is undisputed, the contribution of archival footage cannot be underestimated. When these recordings represent the entire on-film collection of a country's history and heritage, the archive is priceless.

Earlier this year the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia's Ministry of Culture and Information (MOCI) took considerable steps to digitise 750,000 reels of 16mm and 35mm film.

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