Engaging content is the need of the hour

More people are sitting in front of the television these days and I can't imagine it's because there's any more exciting content on telly now than there was five months ago.

As more people lose their jobs and still others avoid thinking about what the future holds, the television probably provides one of the cheapest means of escapist entertainment.

The current environment puts broadcasters in a spot. On the one hand, audience numbers are going up. On the other hand, free-to-air channels are fighting for a smaller portion of available advertising budgets. There's only one way to stop viewers from mindlessly flipping channels and one way to ensure that advertisers are lured to continue advertising with free-to-air channels. Provide compelling content that encourages longer viewing times.

The need of the hour is impressive content and new formats that engage audiences.

So far, Middle East production houses have relied on TVCs and corporate videos for their bread and butter. Tough times present an opportunity for production houses to revisit their approach to content and develop new formats that have greater staying power.

MBC Network has realised the power of such formats even in engaging children, and through them, their parents. Take a look at their programme, Eish Safari, for instance.

A Survivor-version reality show aimed at kids, Eish Safari takes a group of 15 kids with supervisors to a challenging destination for each season of the show. For the fifth season, MBC has tentatively looked at South America as a potential destination. A whopping 60,000 youngsters turned up at the Ghernata mall in Saudi Arabia for the preliminary rounds in April 2009. The mall had to be closed down for the day.

Similarly, the network's new deals with Warner Bros to run first seasons of certain drama series concurrently with the US is a telling comment on how the free TV model is evolving in the region. The change in the free model here, which has been mainly influenced by MBC's new strategies, should worry pay TV operators into also conceiving new ways to encourage more paid subscriptions.

MBC's greatest strength has been its content. It is also the one big factor lacking in this region and one that twofour54, Abu Dhabi's newest media entrant is trying to address through its partnerships and training academy.

Most production houses here have the latest HD kit and the big toys to create great programmes. They should now channel their creativity to produce documentaries that provoke debate; reality TV formats that demand audience participation and 360 degree programmes that can be viewed across different media platforms.

The old saying that Content is King has never been more accurate than in this day and age.

Vijaya Cherian is the editor of Digital Studio.

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