ATV gets tuned into making an impact in Jordan

The channel is the brainchild of Mohammed Al Ayyan, the man behind some of the kingdom's most successful publications, including Al Ghad, the second best selling daily in Jordan with a readership of 55,000, and the free classified weekly Al Waseet which, since its launch in the late 1990s, has now built up a circulation of 200,000.

What's on offer

ATV has been described as a 'channel for the entire family' and so, unsurprisingly, it will offer a mix of news and entertainment, including movies, talk shows and sport, while the current global penchant for reality TV may also figure significantly in the schedules. Speaking to the UK's Financial Times, Al Ayyan said many Jordanians tend to dip in and out of the region's most popular news channels such as CNN and Al Jazeera and that offering a focus on what is happening locally is crucial to building up a loyal and regular audience.

After his successful forays into the world of the kingdom's print media, Al Ayyan is well positioned to know where Jordan's advertising firms tend to direct their campaigns and the overwhelming majority of the country's $220 million ad spend is aimed at the press, with a maximum of just 10 per cent allocated to TV and radio. Seeing this as a major opportunity, Al Ayyan hopes ATV will be able to muscle in on the state-owned Jordan Television and attract a sizeable proportion of that advertising revenue.

One unique aspect to ATV's set-up will be a department which will offer a 'one stop shop' for advertising firms. The idea is for companies to be able to approach ATV and then have adverts specifically geared and tailored to their needs. Such a pro-active and innovative idea will surely hold ATV in good stead as it seeks to boost the TV advertising segment.

Going on air

But before Al Ayyan can look to start making money from his $20 million investment, ATV needs to begin broadcasting and to offer a high quality product. The free-to-air channel's MD Muhannad Al Khatib, who joined the fledgling outfit from the Dubai based Al Arabiya last April, said last week that the station is now well advanced with its pilot broadcasting and more than six hours worth of programming is being aired every day.

The station had actually hoped to launch towards the back end of last year but Al Khatib said delays were commonplace in a venture of this magnitude and setting up the technical infrastructure took time. Two UK based firms, dB and ITN, supervised the installation and testing of the technical equipment in ATV's Amman headquarters.

Right now, the channel's newsroom is '95 per cent' complete according to Al Khatib and the studio is now technically ready for broadcasting. Meanwhile, ATV's news team has undertaken training workshops in France, Germany and Denmark, as well as Amman, to prepare them for the imminent launch.

Aiming for the ASE

The decision to take the channel public is prompted partly from a desire to enable the station's shareholders to be 'its audience, its judge and supporter'. According to the Financial Times, the station is looking to raise more than $50 million from any flotation on the Amman Stock Exchange and another option is a share issue among Al Rayyan's TV and newspaper employees.

Once ATV goes on air, Al Rayyan is determined to see it reach out to Jordan's youthful population and use its local focus to give it a competitive edge. It seems, prior to its launch, ATV will certainly be switched on to providing what Jordan's viewers want to watch and, equally, listening to their feedback.