د. إبراهيم البعيز | الجزيرة
In the Arab space, from the ocean to the Gulf, more than 200 television channels, some of which are governmental, and most of which are private, are crowded. These channels compete to attract Arab viewers to present them to the advertiser. These channels practice in one way or another the process of selling viewers to advertisers, or at least this is what media economics books say. The more the channel is able to attract viewers, the greater its share of commercial advertising revenue, so it was obvious that television channels, especially commercial ones, were keen to offer everything they could To draw the viewer’s attention, even if this requires bypassing some of the political, social or moral censorship warnings in some cases.
In the Arab countries, we lack accurate figures and statistics on the commercial advertising industry, but some reports indicate that the annual expenditure on television commercial advertising in the Arab region is estimated at about 619 million dollars, most of this amount (74%) accounted for by three private satellite channels. It may seem to some that six hundred million is a very high amount, but we have to take into account that this amount was the price of about 350 thousand advertisements, which means that the average price of one advertisement reaches about 1800 dollars, and this is therefore a very small number compared to international standards, not only in Western countries but also In some Southeast Asian countries, hence the title of this article about what satellite channels do in selling the Arab citizen at the lowest prices and to customers (advertisers) who are mostly foreign companies. The reason for this is due to the mechanisms of the market (supply and demand), where the abundance of satellite TV channels, between which the feverish competition has reached a stage that does not bode well in the foreseeable future for the Arab media industry, where the price of commercial advertising, especially in private satellite channels, has fallen to a low degree.
The lack of financial resources for these channels will result in the lack of funds available to these channels to produce distinguished programs that live up to the news, educational and cultural content we aspire to.
Therefore, these channels will rely mostly on regressive programs that target instincts, especially those directed at young people in the Gulf region, who constitute the vast majority (60%) of the citizens, and they are the segment with purchasing power targeted by the advertiser.
Or, these channels may resort to programs imported, mainly from the United States, whose programs are distinguished by strikingly cheap prices. In the mid-nineties, the average price of an episode for an American series ranged between $190 (sold in Mauritania) and $1,750 (sold in Saudi Arabia). America is one of the cheapest options available for these channels, and it is needless to mention that such series have negative and bad cultural effects on shaping the identity of the child and the Arab citizen.
I think that the responsibility for this lies with the Arab governments as a whole, as the necessary organizational steps have not been taken to organize the media industry in a manner that is commensurate with the growing importance of the media in the modern era, as each Arab country, separately, preferred to take a spectator position when the actual application of direct broadcasting technology began despite There are many loud voices against this technology before it is actually implemented on a large scale. This negative attitude of the Arab countries can be traced back to three main reasons, external, internal and media. The Arab countries were not keen (despite their relative ability) to prevent these satellite channels from reaching their citizens, in order to avoid appearing before the international community (in the era of globalization and the era of foreign investments) as if they were countries Closed to itself and does not respect pluralism and dialogue. In addition, these channels are the product of Arab investments abroad, so the Arab countries saw that if their laws and regulations were not able to absorb these media investments, they should at least allow the entry of their services. On the internal level, the Arab countries preferred not to regulate the television media industry in order to avoid appearing in front of the local community as if they bless these satellite channels for their method, approach and control limits. Also, the regulation of these satellite channels will therefore mean legal and official recognition of them, which may lead to obligations that Arab countries do not want to fulfill and finally upon us. To remember that satellite channels are in competition with the local Arab media, and since the Arab countries cannot (or say they do not seriously want) to prevent these channels from reaching the citizen, they are therefore not keen on regulating them in a way that leads to their protection and prosperity.
The problem of the Arab countries in their dealings with satellite channels is that they do not want to compromise. For them, regulation means censorship, muzzling, and stonewalling, and disorganization means chaos and tyranny of regulatory standards that are not commensurate with the moral values of society and its need for lofty cultural development projects based on addressing reason and logic.
I think that it is possible to organize the television media industry to serve the development goals of the Arab world without this being at the expense of the media’s basic message: social dialogue. The Arab countries need a pause and a serious review with their policy towards satellite channels, as a policy and media systems must be formulated in order to protect satellite channels from each other in a way that leads to their development, which will therefore be reflected on their content, as satellite channels are currently the option available to the Arab citizen under the regulations An official radio station (in both its audio and video formats) has not yet been able to accommodate the requirements of the times, which undoubtedly exceeded the “protocol news bulletins.” The failure to develop Arab satellite channels in a modern way will benefit only the television production companies in Hollywood and American channels (with their resources).
Article link: http://www.al-jazirah.com/2002/20021016/rj1.htm