VOL. IV NO. 26, December 05-December 18, 2008

Emmys Going to the Middle East

The Emmy-award winning "Al-Ijtiyah" (see PR_IV.25) has given Arabs, including The National's Muhammad Ayish, "a sense not only of pride...but also a feeling that Arab television does have the capacity to develop and to go global." According to Ayish, Al-Ijtiyah's victory is proof that by tapping into "a broad range of pan-Arab creative talent...Arab television drama has the talent and the capability of appealing to international audiences."

However, Mideast Youth's Tasnim is more critical of the series. Tasnim argues that Al-Ijtiyah is aimed "towards the Western-leaning Arab 'moderate,'" noting, "in the Arab world, behind every drama there's a broadcaster and behind every broadcaster there's government funding and behind government funding, there's that very important ingredient: an agenda."

Thus, Tasmin concludes that scenes involving Israeli characters are "predictably abysmal and cringe-worthy," but on the positive side, "the drama is significantly less needlessly tear-soaked than the average Arab soap."

Ourouba Hussein of the Gulf Times also reports criticisms of Arab TV serials. Ibrahim Ismail, researcher and media expert at Qatar's Ministry of Culture, Arts and Heritage studied 2006 and 2007 Arabic serials telecast during Ramadan, finding that the serials "were detrimental to family values."

According to Ismail, serials covered 165 divorce cases in 2006, rising to 230 in 2007, "which could give a general impression that divorce is a normal issue." Moreover, the portrayal of violence, drug addiction, child neglect, and clandestine marriages has led media expert Hassan Rashid to claim that Turkish serials were "more indecent than American ones."

Aaron Barnhart, writing forTV Barn, takes Rashid's lead, asking whether Arab sitcoms are "too hot for American TV?" Barnhart looks specifically at two sitcoms, "Little Mosque on the Prairie," set in the Muslim community of a small Saskatchewan town, and "Arab Labor," a "screwball sitcom" about a Palestinian journalist trying to fit in with Jewish culture.

Barnhart notes that neither show can currently be watched on American cable packages, despite Little Mosque on the Prairie currently airing in 80 countries, including Canada, Turkey, and Israel. According to the show's executive producer, Mary Darling, Little Mosque was thought unsuitable for American TV, "It came down to whether Americans are able to understand inside Canadian jokes -- which is, like, the most superficial thing." Barnhart praises both shows as "hoots."

A new documentary, described as "groundbreaking" by The Guardian's Rachel Shabi, focuses on the 20 percent Arab population of Israel. "Blue ID Cards", filmed by Israeli journalist Haim Yavin, explores the lives of Arabs in Israel, a population that is "constantly neglected, suspected and marginalized and constantly struggles to attain equal status."

Issues such as qualified Arabs with "a string of degrees" failing to find jobs, and Israeli forces demolishing a Bedouin village are covered. As Shabi concludes, the series "[pulls] no punches over its content."

The growth of the popularity of Arab TV has simultaneously led to a large rise in advertising revenue in the Middle East and North Africa, writes Arabian Business. Despite the first global contraction in a decade, 2009 advertising growth for the MENA region is expected to grow by 10 percent, compared with a projected 5.8 percent this year.

According to Jonathan Barnard, director of publications at Zenith, gains would come from Egypt, the GCC and the growing pan-Arab advertising market. The increasing importance of Arab advertising growth is demonstrated by the Saudi Sports Channel (SSC), which enlisted the services of Creative Edge to update and modernize SSC's football coverage. In a press release on AMEInfo, Creative Edge CEO Assad Abou Al-Jadail claims Creative Edge has succeeded in increasing viewership of the Saudi League, giving greater advertising opportunities to SSC.

Further, Fox International Channels, in partnership with Saudi Arabia's Rotana Media Services, has launched the Fox Series channel in the Middle East, reports Keach Hagey in The National. Fox Series will be the Middle East's first 24-hour, free-to-air service broadcasting exclusively Hollywood series. Viewers will be able to watch shows such as Desperate Housewives, Kyle XY, Brothers and Sisters, and Nip/Tuck, though General Manager of Fox International Channels in the Middle East, Rohit D'Silva, warns "we censor all the programs" to account for regional cultural sensitivities.

The growth of Arab TV is consequently leading to more TV and film festivals in the region. Jonathan Landreth of the Hollywood Reporter attended the Dubai International Film Festival's Cinema for Children. "Daran" which made its premiere at the event "is about working together to solve a problem."

The event drew praise from Emirati Dina Dumyati Hamzeh, a working mother of three. "I'm happy because Dubai doesn't have enough movies for children," she remarked. Section programmer Myrna Maakaron concurred, claiming "Arab distributors think films are for adults and television is for children. But five kids movies are not enough." Hollywood films such as Madagascar and Kung Fu Panda remain the most popular children's films in the region.

Finally, the Arab Broadcast Forum (ABF) will hold its fourth annual forum in Jordan in May 2009, announces the Palestine News Network. More than 325 broadcast news journalists and executives will attend the conference to "seek common ways to improve broadcast news output."

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