Arab Media Group CEO encourages local content for Arab audiences

The conference is a meeting of global leaders in the broadcast, publishing, telecommunications and technology industries sharing expertise and best practice for the future.

Al Sayegh stressed the challenges for this region, saying that providing content is not as simple as a 'one size fits all' model. Pan-Arab broadcasters must cater to a diverse range of cultures and lifestyles across 18 different markets and still manage to acquire international content. In general, he continued, broadcasters in the Middle East rely too much on international content to generate revenue, and not enough time focusing on driving local production.

However, he pointed out that despite major challenges, 'mass means money.' In other words, the larger markets — Egypt, with 80m viewers and Saudi Arabia with 26m are commercially valuable population centres that are ripe for new models of delivering content, particularly content that is locally produced and creatively packaged appealing to the regional market.

Citing the success several locally-produced, Arabic-language programmes, such as Freej, Alsayegh insisted that local content was an underexploited area that should be the growing norm in the Middle East, instead of it being labeled as a market 'niche.'

Furthermore, Al Sayegh pointed to the growth of IT infrastructure across the region, the popularity of social networking sites, and the increase in mobile phone use as signs of how new media can revolutionize content provision through mobile technologies and broadband. The strength of this new media, he commented, would play a significant role in the success of future local productions across the Middle East.

Other distinguished fellow panelists included: John Willman, Editorial Consultant and Former UK Business Editor and Associate Editor, Financial Times; HE Dr Tarek Mitri, Minister of Information, Lebanon; Abdulaziz Al-Mahmoud, Editor in Chief, Al-Arab; Ray Maurer, Managing Director, QNB Capital; Robert Menard, Director General, Doha Centre for Media Freedom; Yousef H Mugharbil, President, Rotana Digital Media; Bhavneet Singh, EVP & MD, Emerging Markets, MTV Networks International; Neil Cook, Managing Editor, Gulf Times; and Ziad Kebbi, Managing Director, Endemol Middle East.