Media in the Arab world at the threshold of a transparent media buying environment

This evidenced by a few media companies in the region that committed themselves to reliable and credible circulation audits, pointed out the latest and second edition of Arab Media Outlook, the ground-breaking study on the media in the Arab world recently brought out by Dubai Press Club in conjunction with PricewaterhouseCoopers.

Analyzing the newspaper scene in the region against the background of the actual situation in the 12 countries that the report is based on, the Arab Media Outlook 2008 - 2012 claimed that only three out of these 12 countries - Morocco, Oman and the UAE - have daily newspapers whose circulation is currently audited by approved circulation audit firms. The report added that a Saudi-based newspaper Al Jazirah declared in 2008 that it intended to be audited by the circulation audit firm, BPA Worldwide, making it the first newspaper in that country to come under a circulation audit.

Referring to extensive interviews that were done with media owners and editors in chief for the preparation of the Outlook, the report drew attention to the statement by a number of senior staff members of media groups who observed that "auditing would probably work to their advantage and that far from being something to fear, audited figures would probably justify an advertising rate increase."

Detailing projected newspaper circulation for the 12 countries under study in the report, it says:

"The strongest growth potential amongst these countries are Egypt, Bahrain and Qatar, which are projected to grow at CAGR of 4%, 2.6% and 2.6% respectively during the projection period."

According to the report, the key factors that influence circulation growth for newspapers are the level of competition in the dailies market, literacy level, the demographic profile of the country (for example, the percentage of population aged over 50, because they will not be an techno-savvy as the younger generations) as well as the number of newspapers published.

Conversely, the circulation growth for newspapers in countries like Morocco and Yemen is going to be rather limited because of the twin factors of low literacy levels and high proportion of young people in the population. Television will remain the primary source of entertainment and information in these countries.

Concluding its analysis on the circulation trends, the report said that regulation and licensing of newspaper titles would play an important role in triggering competition and improving quality.

"Kuwait is a good example of this. The country's New Press Law reversed a thirty-year ban on new newspapers and consequently six new titles were launched in 2007, along with four other newspapers in 2008," explained the Outlook.