TV Middle East & Africa MIPCOM & MYCONTENT DUBAI 2011

MIPCOM & MYCONTENT DUBAI

EDITIONArab SpringM-Net Turns 25www.tvmea.ws THE MAGAZINE OF MIDDLE EASTERN & AFRICAN TV OCTOBER 2011

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TV MIDDLE EAST & AFRICA 3

The tenth anniversary of the tragic events of 9/11 justpassed, but interest in the topic remains strong. A mas-sive effort is currently under way to reshape GroundZero into an expansive 16-acre complex. To docu-ment this historic effort, Discovery Channel was onthe ground alongside the men and women who haveworked to make this vision a reality. From executiveproducer Steven Spielberg, Rising: Rebuilding GroundZero is a six-part series that looks at Ground Zero’s risefrom the ashes. The title is being offered by DiscoveryEnterprises International (DEI). Also on the DEI slateare Prophets of Science Fiction, a biographical explorationof eight science-fiction visionaries; Last Shuttle: OurJourney; Dinosaur Revolution; and a second season of I’mPregnant and….

• Prophets of Science Fiction• Rising: Rebuilding Ground Zero• Last Shuttle: Our Journey• Dinosaur Revolution• I’m Pregnant and...

Discovery EnterprisesInternationalwww.discoveryenterprisesinternational.com

• The Wedding Band• Winners and Losers• Kidnap & Ransom• Work of Art: The Next Great Artist• Anthony Bourdain: No Reservations

FremantleMediaEnterprises

The markets in the Middle East and Africa havebecome more sophisticated, notes Jamie Lynn, the sen-ior VP for Middle East, Southern Europe and Africa atFremantleMedia Enterprises (FME). “As a result, theirappetite for quality content across all genres has signif-icantly increased,” he adds. “From big U.S. and U.K.drama, entertainment shows, lifestyle, comedy and fac-tual, we have seen increased interest in all areas. FMEhas a diverse portfolio...that can cater to all.” He pointsto the dramas The Wedding Band, Winners and Losers andKidnap & Ransom, as well as the entertainment-basedWork of Art: The Next Great Artist and travel showAnthony Bourdain: No Reservations. “We plan to putmore investment and resources into the region whilstcontinuing to work on growing our existing partner-ships and forming new ones,” says Lynn.

www.fmescreenings.com

Ricardo Seguin GuisePublisher

Anna CarugatiEditor

Mansha DaswaniExecutive Editor

Kristin BrzoznowskiManaging EditorMarissa GraziadioEditorial Assistant

Simon WeaverOnline Director

Craig BrownMichelle Villas

Production & DesignDirectors

Phyllis Q. BusellArt DirectorCesar Suero

Sales & MarketingDirector

Terry AcunzoBusiness Affairs Manager

Vanessa BrandSales & Marketing

Assistant

Ricardo Seguin GuisePresident

Anna CarugatiExecutive VP &

Group Editorial DirectorMansha DaswaniVP of StrategicDevelopment

TV Middle East & Africa© 2011 WSN INC.1123 Broadway, #1207New York, NY 10010

Phone: (212) 924-7620

Fax: (212) 924-6940

Website: www.tvmea.ws

IN THIS ISSUEBrave New Middle EastThe Arab Spring protestshave reshaped MiddleEastern media 6

25 Years of M-NetJan du Plessis onthe broadcaster’s anniversary 12

“The televisionindustry in the MiddleEast and Africa hasseen tremendous development in recent years.”

—Jamie Lynn

Winners and Losers

Last Shuttle: Our Journey

Rising: RebuildingGround Zero

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480 World Screen 10/11

The first season of Driver Dan’s Story Train has been a successon CBeebies. Season two is now in production with 3LineMedia and Blink Studios, with twofour54 planning todeliver the new installment later this year. The second seasonfeatures new characters such as Bippity the Robot and newenvironments such as a magical forest and a skate park. “DriverDan’s Story Train works for its target kids’ audience as itengages them in interactive storytelling in a way that invitesthem to participate in the story, acting out favorite sequencesand having fun with their imaginations,” says Jane Smith, thegeneral manager of twofour54. “The characters, themselvesled by Dan our fearless lion, are beautifully designed and handcrafted and translated into high-quality CGI which retainstheir bright colors and textures. Three different elementsmake up the show: an initial adventure featuring a number ofthe cast with a resolution, which leads us to a story being toldin Story Corner, and finally the live-action kids shot againstgreen screen interacting with illustrations from the storybooks—a truly multimedia series with broad global appeal.”Smith adds, “Stories and game play are universal themes to beenjoyed by kids the world over.”

• Driver Dan’s Story Train

twofour54www.twofour54.com

“This market will focus oncontinuing the global rolloutof Driver Dan’s Story Trainas well as introducing newconcepts from the region topotential partners.”

—Jane SmithDriver Dan’s Story Train

Mondo TV S.p.A. has made inroads in the MiddleEastern market. The company has firmed up a dealwith Al Jazeera Children’s Channel for PlaytimeBuddies. Dinofroz,Virus Attack and Beast Keeper also areon the table in some very advanced negotiations. AndAngel’s Friends has been acquired by a free-to-air chan-nel in Morocco and a licensing agency is working onthe L&M rights across the North of Africa. Monsters &Pirates is also available for the region’s buyers. “In theMiddle East, having kids’ animated programs andworking directly with broadcasters, you need to havethe series available in an Arabic version,” saysMicheline Azoury, the head of international sales andbrand manager. “Mondo TV works directly channel bychannel, having our library and all our new programsavailable in Arabic, and for Africa, it’s needed inEnglish and French too.”

• Playtime Buddies• Dinofroz• Virus Attack • Beast Keeper• Monsters & Pirates

Mondo TV S.p.A. www.mondotv.it

Playtime Buddies

Monsters & Pirates

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10

By Chris Forrester

Middle East


Brave New

For years any rebellious coup d’état would simply target thepresidential palace, followed quickly by the local radio station.Control of those two gave any revolutionary a much betterchance of success. Today’s Arab Spring series of Middle Eastuprisings have taken those traditional targets one step further:now they target the satellite TV stations, and throughout theArab world this latest fresh taste of democracy has resultedin some dramatic changes to the broadcasting landscape.Almost without exception, viewers have turned away

from their state-backed news outlets and instead turned toindependent news sources. Al Jazeera out of Qatar andMBC’s Al Arabiya have done exceptionally well, as havetrusted non-Arab broadcasters such as BBC World andCNN International.

SPRING AWAKENINGSThe series of popular revolutions started on December 17,2010, in Tunisia. The president was toppled. The uprisingspread to Algeria by December 28, Lebanon by January 12,2011, and Jordan by January 14. Mauritania followed on Jan-uary 17, along with Sudan and Oman on the same day.Morocco saw street protests on January 30. Saudi Arabia

experienced unheard of street demonstrations on January21. By January 25, the street demonstrations in the MiddleEast’s cultural and political heartland of Egypt were meas-ured in the hundreds of thousands. Eighteen days later, Pres-ident Hosni Mubarak resigned. Yemen was in full civil warby February 3, and Iraq saw major street demonstrations starton February 10, followed by Bahrain on February 14. Libya’sprotesters rose on February 15. Kuwait saw its first protests onFebruary 18. Syria’s protesters were kept in check until March15, when civilians attacked public buildings.Foreign journalists got well-merited credit for helping to

foment and publicize popular uprisings against the region’sdespots. Satellite TV stations, Al Jazeera in particular, struckat the very roots of power in many Arab states by making offi-cial censorship irrelevant and by competing very successfullyagainst government propaganda. The backlash against government authority was most pub-

lic in Egypt and saw the arrest in February of President HosniMubarak. The transformation at the giant Nile-side Egypt-ian Radio and Television Union (ERTU) building was almostinstantaneous. Within hours of Mubarak stepping down,Egypt’s state-supported television began congratulating the

The protests taking placeacross the Middle East arebringing dramatic changes

to the broadcastinglandscape.


Arabsat beamsnumerous channelsacross the Middle East.

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Egyptian people “for their pure great revolution,led by the best of the Egyptian youth.”The next day,Egypt’s MENA state news agency issued a statementassuring the people that “Egyptian TV will be hon-est in carrying its message” and since it “is owned bythe people of Egypt [it] will be in their service.”A few days later the arrests started. “Corruption,

nepotism, favoritism and a waste of public moneyare pervasive inside [the Nile-side TV building]. Youcan see signs of them everywhere,” said ShahiraAmin, a well-known Nile TV news anchor whoquit in early February in protest at what was beingdone by government forces. “The whole systemshould be changed,” she argued. A former Egyptian Minister of Information, Anas

al-Fiqi, was arrested on February 23 on charges ofcorruption. A few hours later, Osama el-Sheikh,ERTU’s chairman, was arrested. Both were impris-oned pending trials. Egypt’s attorney general hasfrozen the assets of both men, and forbidden themto leave the country. The Arab Spring, at least as far as Egypt’s broadcasting free-

doms are concerned, has resulted in even greater demand forsatellite capacity, says Salah Hamza, chief technology officer atNileSat, which operates satellites beaming 600-plus channelsacross North Africa and the Middle East. “The new freedomswe are seeing in the Middle East are leading to freshdemand,” says Hamza. “Would-be broadcasters want to beon our neighborhood. This itself could lead to a major flow-ering of creativity. In general, the national stations have fallenwell behind the private [non-government] channels. Egypt’snew Prime Minister [Essam Sharaf] seemed to recognize thiswhen he first visited the private TV channels prior to visit-ing Egypt’s public channels. He feels that if he wants to talk topeople he has to address the private channels, where the mass-market viewers are.”

THE FLOODGATES OPEN On April 17, Egypt’s General Authority for Investment andFree Zones (GAFI)—which overseas the Egyptian MediaProduction City (EMPC) and the NileSat transmission facil-ity—said that the country’s new, more relaxed regulationswere designed to attract fresh investment in the media sec-tor. Under the new legislation, broadcasters will no longerhave to obtain the approval of Egypt’s security services. Thefirst flood of applicants saw 16 new channels approved bythe end of April. Osama Saleh, GAFI’s chairman, announcedthat security will no longer make inquiries into Egyptianswho wish to establish satellite channels, and that channels willbe granted licenses to present general entertainment ratherthan specialized content.While this is creating fresh opportunities for NileSat,

there are also problems. “What is really bothering us today

is signal jamming in our region,” Hamza says. “The prob-lem itself is not new, but what is now different is the inten-sity of the jamming.”

JAMM SESSIONOne major broadcaster hit by signal jamming in March wasDubai-based MBC and its Al Arabiya all-news channel. Thejamming, said experts, came from somewhere south of theLibyan capital of Tripoli. Al Jazeera also suffered badly at thehands of thugs. One of its journalists was murdered on March12 while filming in Libya. Wadah Khanfar, director generalof Al Jazeera Network, said at the time: “To those who aretrying to muzzle Al Jazeera through criminal acts, killing itscorrespondents and those working for it, blocking its signal,or jamming its signal, I would like to tell them that no onecan hide the truth. We live in times where the truth is defendedby soldiers who believe in a true message, and we will continueto deliver our message no matter what the cost.”NileSat’s Hamza says his team could do very little. “They

were jamming several transponders at the same time, affectingAl Jazeera, Alhurra, Al Arabiya and others, all news channels.The broadcasters involved were being moved to spare fre-quencies on our satellites but the jamming was at very highpower levels. We were left with very little that we coulddo, even reducing the actual power of the satellite was nothaving much effect. Then there was jamming of the Libyanmain channel by the Libyan opposition. So we had jam-ming from government supporters and anti-governmentsupporters in Libya.”These problems aside, Hamza is optimistic: “Today, we have

more clients than ever. We now have a long list of privateindividuals and organizations who want to broadcast TVchannels on NileSat, and now have the freedom to do so.



A panoramic view: Al Arabiya was one ofseveral news networksbringing coverage of the protests toviewers across the region.

V for victory: The Cairo protests in January eventually resulted in the resignation of President Hosni Mubarak.


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There’s another change. A few months back, under the oldregime, we were obliged to remove certain channels. They arenow all back on air with us, and can I say the new processesare a little more relaxed than under the old regime.”Hamza is right. The Arab League, on May 15, formally

asked Arabsat and NileSat to cease transmissions of Libya’sJamahiriya Satellite Channel and “any other channel” thatmight be sympathetic to the Libyan government. The deci-sion was taken at the end of a special meeting in Cairo onthe same day. However, the request placed the satellite oper-ators in something of a dilemma: they held valid long-termcontracts with the Libyans. It took almost a month for theLibyan state-backed channels to be switched off.

AN UNCERTAIN FUTUREThe Egyptian Arab Spring is far from over. There was an elec-tion promised for some time in October, and despite thesenew freedoms, some are anxious that the opportunities forcritical voices might dry up following an election. There are other risks. “Raising the ceiling of free expres-

sion in the wake of the revolution has lured the mass media ingeneral to pick up thrilling stories and offer sensational mate-rial that drifts from the basic target of the media service infavor of commercial [interests],” says Cairo-based mediaexpert Yasser Abdel-Aziz, adding that lifting the lid off a oncetightly-controlled media has generated a fervent tendency inthe opposite direction. The new freedoms are encouraging heavyweight players to

directly enter the TV market. Fast-growing Middle Eastbroadcasting group Rotana, in which Rupert Murdoch’sNews Corporation is a significant shareholder, launched ageneral-entertainment channel specifically for the giantEgyptian market. Rotana is backed by Saudi billionairePrince Alwaleed bin Talal. The decision is a direct attack on

Egypt’s state-backed ERTU cluster ofchannels. Moreover, the channel featuresDr. Hala Sarhan, the president of RotanaStudios and an extremely popular faceon Egyptian television.Fahad Alsukait, the CEO of the Rotana

Group, said the new channel confirms thecompany’s strong commitment to Egypt-ian viewers and is part of the company’sbroader plans to increase its presence inthe country. He added: “We continue tobelieve in the strong market growth Egyptwill enjoy medium to long term and ourinvestment in the new channel expressessuch confidence and fits with the businessplan of the group.” There are plenty of other new chan-

nels in the region. Getting a firm handon how many have launched since thestart of the Arab Spring is difficult. Somefeeling for the rate of progress can beseen in Arab Advisors Group’s (AAG)latest report. The number of free-to-airsatellite TV channels in the Arab worldavailable on Arabsat, NileSat andNOORSAT increased by 10.5 percentbetween April 2010 and April 2011,

reaching 538 (excluding those in test transmission phase,501 are fully operational, up from 448). AAG researchrevealed that private-sector general-entertainment chan-nels dominate, accounting for about 20 percent of the totalnumber of free-to-air networks in operation, followed bygovernment-sector general channels.

TUNING INAnalysts at Omnicom Media say TV viewing during the ArabSpring expanded dramatically. In the first quarter of this yeardaily TV consumption rose to six hours in Saudi Arabia andto five hours in the United Arab Emirates, as viewers acrossthe region looked to stay up to date on the latest develop-ments in other parts of the Arab world. The news channels,in particular, reported viewership gains, with audiences flock-ing to Al Jazeera and Al Arabiya. Omnicom indicates that thetwo channels almost doubled their viewing figures in Febru-ary. Meanwhile, global satellite services like BBC World andCNN International experienced a 78-percent gain in audi-ence numbers in Q1, as Western expats in the region alsosought out regular updates on the turmoil.Advertising revenue in the Arab world is also starting to

recover after a staggering regional loss of US$100 million inFebruary alone, when marketers apparently got cold feet incase the companies they represented were accused of politicalbias during times of tumult. Regional media expenditure has,reports Omnicon, been rising since March.Indeed, while the political outcome of the Arab Spring is

far from certain, the broadcasting outcome seems extremelyhealthy. There are new channels, and new freedoms of expres-sion on existing channels. There will, inevitably, be teethingproblems in these new found freedoms, but hopefully overtime the violent swings of the recent broadcasting pendu-lum will settle at mid-point.



Center of the action: Tony Birtley, one of Al Jazeera English’scorrespondents,reporting from the Arab Springprotests.


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By Anna Carugati The Electronic Media Network, or M-Net, was established in 1985as South Africa’s first private subscription television service. Its firstbroadcast, in October 1986, consisted of just one 12-hour channel.M-Net has grown significantly over the course of the last 25

years and today it operates an array of general-entertainmentand niche channels, which reach more than 2.5 million sub-scribers in 41 countries across Africa.It wasn’t always easy in the early days of M-Net. Few in the South

African media industry at the time believed that M-Net could reachits target goal of 30,000 subscribers. Headlines in the pressdeclared, “Pay TV will not succeed in South Africa” and “Battleof the box begins” and “Gloves off in TV warfare.”And indeed, in the first test broadcast, which was of a rugby

final match, the first commercial, “Quest for Zero Defect” fromNational Panasonic, aired with no audio.

But M-Net remained focused on its goal and by February 1987had installed 8,226 multi-user decoders in apartment blocks andwon a contract with the Protea Hotel Group. By March, individualdecoders were available and M-Net started broadcasting to pri-vate homes, and by October it had reached 50,000 subscribers.The key to M-Net’s success was its simple TV recipe: blockbuster

movies and must-watch sports. Initially the pay service’s audienceconsisted predominantly of affluent white households. But with polit-ical and economic change in South Africa over the years, M-Net’saudience has become much more diverse, and so has its program-ming. Today it offers a bouquet of channels that cater to different agegroups and viewing tastes. Besides acquiring the best programmingfrom around the world, M-Net has invested significantly in local pro-ductions, whether its own Studio 53, or adaptations of renownedinternational formats such as Big Brother and Idols. Jan du Plessis, who started at M-Net as head of acquisitions

and today is director of channels, explains the reasons for M-Net’s success.

TV MIDDLE EAST & AFRICA: M-Net’s motto is “Wheremagic lives.” What key factors have contributed to the magicand to the viewer loyalty M-Net has gained over the years? DU PLESSIS:A dynamic, forward-thinking vision, supportedby both international and local content providers, coupled witha very hard-working team and a quality-driven platformprovider, are among the key factors that have contributed to themagic and viewer loyalty M-Net has gained over the years.

TV MIDDLE EAST & AFRICA:As the TV landscape in SouthAfrica becomes more competitive, what is M-Net’s mission?DU PLESSIS: M-Net’s mission is to remain at the forefrontof the consumer’s mind by continuing to live by and provideprecisely that which our motto depicts, “Magic.” This will beachieved through the implementation of market-leading con-tent strategies, made available in various ways, on multipleplatforms and to a wider reach of the market.

TV MIDDLE EAST & AFRICA: Has TopTV’s entrance intothe pay-TV market had an impact on M-Net’s strategy?DU PLESSIS: Competition is always good for the marketand the entry of TopTV to the arena has ensured that M-Net continues to strive towards the provision of uniqueworld-class quality entertainment offerings for our differenttarget markets who are served by our 30 channels.

TV MIDDLE EAST & AFRICA: What is the role of importedprogramming in M-Net’s offering?DU PLESSIS: The demand for international content is veryhigh and therefore international features and series play a veryimportant role in M-Net’s content offering. Our relationshipswith all of the main studios and independent suppliers areintegral in providing top-notch international features andseries on the M-Net platforms.

TV MIDDLE EAST & AFRICA: What has been your strategyfor original productions? What do you want to offer yourviewers and which productions have been most successful?DU PLESSIS: M-Net offers several niche channels for differenttarget audiences across Africa and creates original productionsto fulfill the viewing needs of all our subscribers. Creative,Afro-centric productions that can travel well across the globe



25M-NetYears

of

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form a part of this strategy. One of our most exciting produc-tions to date is the groundbreaking new soap The Wild, whichwas launched [this year]. The half-hour soap is filmed entirelyon location and revolves around the drama and intrigue atan African game lodge.

TV MIDDLE EAST & AFRICA: How has M-Net helped thelocal production and filmmaking communities?DU PLESSIS: M-Net is very supportive of the local produc-tion and filmmaking communities. We provide funding andcreative support to various projects.

To mention a few of our efforts: We have provided greateropportunity to entry-level filmmakers by commissioning “bub-blegum” movies. By doing this, we have created more jobs forlocal actors and film crews. We have invested more than R8 million ($1.1 million) in licensing local content owned bylocal independent production companies, and we have commis-

sioned more than 170 local productions for our channels inthe past financial year. We’ve also created new opportunitiesfor on-screen talent. A number of celebrities now have theirown shows on Mzansi Magic [M-Net’s local entertainmentchannel]. And finally, we have [trained] young industry tal-ent by means of CSI (corporate social investment) projects,such as the TAG Awards and M-Net New Directions, whichgive young people and newcomers to the industry [thechance] to see their work on television.

TV MIDDLE EAST & AFRICA: Are there plans to addmore channels to the M-Net lineup?DU PLESSIS: M-Net always has exciting plans up itssleeve to ensure that we continue to adapt to the latesttrends and possible changing tastes of our viewers.

TV MIDDLE EAST & AFRICA: How are you extendingM-Net’s program offering onto digital platforms such asonline and mobile?

DU PLESSIS: M-Net provides content to platforms such asDStv Mobile and DStv on Demand and supports the growthof these new platforms wholeheartedly.

TV MIDDLE EAST & AFRICA: What are some of the majorissues affecting the South African TV market?DU PLESSIS: Major issues include broadband and technologyadvancement constraints to keep up with the international market.

TV MIDDLE EAST & AFRICA: What opportunities andchallenges do you foresee in the next 12 to 24 months? DU PLESSIS: Opportunities and challenges are part andparcel of our game. However, M-Net foresees the evolvingtelevision consumption model as an opportunity to keep themagic flowing with transmedia initiatives being the key incross-platform consumption. A challenge will be to keep upwith consumers’ evolving needs on different platforms.


Launched in 1986 as a single-channel offering,the M-Net portfolio today consists of:

M-Net: Offering the latest movies, series, thebest international sports coverage on SuperSport,kids’ entertainment on KTV and much more.

M-Net Movies 1: A 24-hour channel providingup to 100 different movie titles a month with nocommercial breaks.

M-Net Series: Dedicated to series from the ’60sthrough to the ’90s. It spans many genres fromdrama to comedy, action, sci-fi and romance.

M-Net Action: Offers high-impact action moviesand series.

M-Net Stars: Offers a range of movies that arecontemporary classics.

kykNET: Broadcasts only in Afrikaans and itsprogramming includes talk shows, variety andmusic shows, local dramas and cooking shows.

Channel O: Offers music television that showcases the best African talent and videos.

Mzansi Magic: Features locally produced con-tent as well as local and international featurefilms, music specials, documentaries and soaps.

Africa Magic: An entertainment channel forAfrican programming.

Africa Magic Plus: Offers African entertain-ment showcasing filmmaking and storytellingfrom Africa (excluding Nigeria).

Magic World: Features original productions,African film fare, sport, classic series repeats and

real-time link-ups to some of M-Net’s otherbrands.

Africa Magic Hausa: Features the best inHausa-language films.

Africa Magic Yoruba: Offers the best inYoruba-language films.

VUZU: A youth-focused entertainment channel foryoung Africans, with a combination of big-nameinternational series and locally produced shows.

Koowee: Aimed at children under the age of six.The channel was conceptualized to be the firstmultilingual kids’ channel in Africa.

MK: Broadcasts Afrikaans music videos andmusic-related programming for a youngeraudience.

M-Net Today

Making music: M-Net has adaptedseveral global formats as part of itsoriginal programmingstrategy, includingFremantleMedia’sIdols.


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TV Middle East & Africa MIPCOM & MYCONTENT DUBAI 2011