Article 2015
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Original productions in Egypt and the UAE in 2014 focused mainly on fiction and portraying social situations through comedy. In Egypt, series like Ana We Baba We Mama on Dream 2 and Sahib Al Saada on MBC Mars used comedy to explore conflicts between generations and family issues. Story based series about women like Sarya Abdeen on MBC1 also examined social themes. While local productions increased, foreign shows still comprised a large portion of programming, with MBC Group importing many American, Turkish, and South Korean titles that were popular across the region. Co-productions with countries outside the Arab world were growing but still relatively small.
Article 2015
- 1. Prensario International Prensario International < 28 > < 29 > comedy,butitalsoreflectsthepoliticalandsocial changes following the Egyptian Revolution. Likewise, El Excellence on Al hayat or Seseq El Omr on Dream2 had political events in Egypts storyline,and the latter reveals the life of the ex- President Gamal Adbel Nasser and his Minister of Defense, Marshal Abdel-Hakim Amer. Story based series about women such as Sarya Abdeen on MBC1 were also relevant; the production was considered the years biggest drama production with a number of well- known actors from the Arab world and had a considerable budget. The series deals with women conflicts on the period of time between 1866 -1890. Along the same line, Sign El Nisaa inspired by a play written by once a political detainee Fathia Al Assalillustrates real life events around three Egyptian women in prison. The trend of portraying social situations was also followed in the UAE with original productionssuchasMotalqatSagheratonMBC Drama, which discussed the phenomenon of early divorce in the Gulf Society.Derek Al Fareej and Saray Al Bait on Abu Dhabi Al Oula were also social series with a narrative comedy. Lets play and talk Portraying a Pan-Arab culture was also the themeofonerealityshowAlRaqisaonAlKahera, which aimed to find the most talented belly dancerintheworld.Thiswastheonlytalentshow thatdidnotincludecelebritiesasparticipantsin 2014. Other original formats in Egypt as Foash Fy El Moaa and Laanet El Frahna had different famous starts as hosts; in both programs, celebritiesarevictimsof ajokethatisrevealedat theend.WiththesameBehindthescenenotion the programs Shewayet Eiyal and Ramez Qersh Al Bahr captured the reaction of children when interviewed by the Egyptian comedian Ahmed Helmy,whilethelatterprogramspotscelebrities reactions facing terrifying situations. On the factual genre, several talk shows that analyze political and economic topics. Al AassemmaonElMehwarinvitesgueststoknow their opinion about the situation in Egypt; meanwhile, the program Aan Al Awaan, deals with the latest presidential elections in Egypt, hosting the famous interviewer Hala Sarhaan. ContrarytoEgyptsobvioustrends,theUAEs entertainment and factual productions remain diversifiedwithgameshows,cookingtalentquest programs, or formats inviting the audience to participate by phone calling. A Pan-Arab flow and beyond With the increase of costs due to the produc- tion of new contents and low spending on TV advertisement, one program is usually broad- casted on several channels. Sign el Nisaa was broadcasted on 9 different Satellite TV chan- nels throughout the year in Egypt, Saudi Ara- bia and UAE. The series Ad Tnazool and El Morafaa were broadcasted on three different channels such as El Mehwar, CBC, etc. Therefore,inordertomaintainviewers,there has been an inflow of foreign programs, with fiction being the most imported genre in UAE, Egypt,Lebanon and SaudiArabia.In Egypt and UAE, MBC Group was the one that imported special Report | Markets With a population of more than half being under 25 years old, and a high penetration of mobile phone and Internet in all target groups, the Middle East is a region that is attracting media and advertising companies. Moreover, averagedailyviewingtimeperindividualeven though conducted with different measurement instruments has increased in most countries. This is likely to improve in the years to come as new media hubs are being created to facilitate localrelationshipsandboostforeigninvestment; likewise the deployment of technological advancements is making it possible to identify viewers habits. A little background WiththeincreaseofSatelliteTVchannelsover thelastdecadesince2000TVproducersand broadcasters experienced an intense pressure to providequalitycontentandinnovativeconcepts thatappealnotonlyatalocal,butalsoatregional level. Since launched-Satellite TV channels are capital-intense companies, their goal is to capture as much audience as possible.However, the difference of TV audience measurement (TAM) in the region did not allow a forecast of potentially successful formats. This made TV channels adopt a risk-adverse attitude towards the creation of new content and therefore prompted the broadcasting of Turkish and Mexican soap operas. Evolution of content creation in the Arabic TVindustrywasmainlydonethroughprevious successfulshows.However,becauseofthestrong religious and cultural values, the reality-shows as Al Rais, the adaptation of Endemols format BigBrother,wereprohibitedafterseveraldaysof broadcastingonMBC.OtherssuchastheArabic versionof AmericanIdol:TheSuperAcademy,or thereality-showSuperStarwerehighlycriticized. Recent government efforts to create media hubs within the region besides the well-known media cluster in Egypt have been made,especially within the Gulf countries as the recent media center Twofour54 (UAE). Aware of the indirect and direct benefits of film and TV productions, countries like Lebanon, UAE and Jordan are starting to create policies that promote foreign media investment and increase original Pan-Arab content production. Moreover,theadoptionofpeople-meterasTAM in the most relevant countries for the Pan Arab TV advertising market UAE, Saudi Arabia and Egypt油are widening the TV Landscape for producers and broadcasters. A lot has been said about the TV Satellite channel explosion and its consequences. Some divideditinasimplisticmannerbystressingout thataftertheArabicTVindustrywasliberalized- asanaturalevolutionoftheeconomicsofmedia production Western production would rather democratizetheindustryorwesternizeitby forcing the adoption of formats. Though, these twoviewsareaparadox,theytookplace,butnot at the same time; they occurred gradually, and several external factors contributed to it. This was more evident for the news programs at the beginning of the channel Al Jazeera, who later adoptedforeignpracticescreatingatremendous success leading to regional competition. The channel competed with MBCs news channel Al-Arabiya in 2003. Whenlaunched,TVgroupsarecapital-intense, such as CBCGroup (2011) or Al Nahar (2011), and they do not figure as the main producers of original content. However, groups already established with several niche channels such as MBC Group (1991 e.g. MBC1, MBC Drama, MBCMasr),AbuDhabiMediaCompany(1969) or Nile TV International (1994 e.g. Nile Life, Nile Culture, Nile Family) are producers of most of the original content broadcasted in the UAE and Egypt. The original production in 2014 in Egypt was mainly fiction, with series and sitcoms. Entertainmentandfactualshowswereproduced andadaptedinalessdegree.Alhayat,MBC1and ElMehwarweretheTVchannelswithmorenew original formats broadcasted in Egypt. Tell me whats going on Looking to create a link with viewers, originalseriesinEgyptweremainlyfocusingon portrayingoppositesidesofdailylifesituationsin ahumorousway.ComediessuchasDannaBanat broadcastedonAlhayatandonAlNaharshowed the clash among social classes; meanwhile, Ana WeBabaWeMamaonDream2revolvedaround theconflictbetweenthenewandoldgenerations, Sahib Al Saada on MBC Mars covered family issues with a comedy narrative succeeding in the portrayal of social matters. The same mix of comedy and social context is perceived in the series Embratoreyet Meen? on MBC Drama; this series is not only a sarcastic Whats up in the Middle East? Middle East: Average daily viewing time per individual Total Individuals Ana We Baba We Mama on Dream 2 revolved around the conflict between the new and old generations, while Sahib Al Saada on MBC Mars covered family issues with a comedy narrative succeeding in the portrayal of social matters Fiction origins in UAE & Egypt (2014) Source: Eurodata TV Worldwide By Siglinde Mart鱈nez smartinez@eurodatatv.com UAE: Top 5 Programs Best performing programs (January-December 2014) Source: Eurodata TV Worldwide/Relevant Partners TView themost.InLebanon,theTVchannelAlJadeed figured as the first importer,followed by MBC+ Drama. Egypt and UAE retrieved their fiction formats from a large number of countries and mainly from the USA, Turkey, Lebanon and Kuwait. On the contrary, Lebanon and Saudi Arabia imported mainly fromArabic countries. The flow of TV formats within the Pan-Arab regionhasbeenagiven,butMBC4sacquisition of more than 15 South Korean fiction formats such as Gaeinui Chwihyang, Ameerati Anti or Al Ameer WalFaqeer broadcasted in Egypt and UAE is a clear example that TV broadcasters are looking to differentiate themselves and offernewcontent. The wave of South Korean programs is mainly focused on romantic comedies and family values. Co-production projects are allowing the entrance of programs with countries outside the continent such as the Indian/UAE romantic comedy Saraswatichandra or the series Abou HiebaFyGabalElHalalonCBC,aco-production between Egypt and England. Though, the amount of co-production with non-Arab countries is still low, TV producers are highly investing in adaptations such as Forsa Thanya,theArabicadaptationoftheColombian format El Matrimonio Feliz. By using the latest technology, producers are betting on delivering quality content and saving expenses with the new facilities available in the UAE. Story based series about women such as Sarya Abdeen on MBC1 were also relevant; the production was considered the years biggest drama production with a number of well-known actors from the Arab world and had a considerable budget Want to know more about ratings and pro- gramming trends in more than 100 territories worldwide? Please order Eurodata TVs One TV Year in the World and International TV Trends reports. To find out more about these reports and more, please contact Eric Lentulo: elentulo@eurodatatv.com Source: Eurodata TV Worldwide - Relevant Partners / One TV Year in the World /Tview / IPSOS MediaCT