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The channel is backed by MBC, Lebanon's Hariri Group, and other
investors from Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and the Gulf states. Content
will be produced by newly formed Middle East News, with a staff
strength of about 400.
"People in this region are lacking a credible source of news,"
said MBC operations director Assad Abu al Jadail. "Jazeera
made the breakthrough [in news] but you don't always know the agenda."
Part of Arabiya's long-term aim is to promote stability and democracy
in the region, he said.
Ad agency executives in the Middle East are eager to see Arabiya
but said MBC hasn't told them much yet. They said MBC should do
well financially because it has a powerful ad-sales operation and
has developed a good reputation for fairness with its flagship MBC
channel, which runs general entertainment and an hour per day of
news programs.
Interest from advertisers
Jadail was quoted as saying that no major ad contracts have been
signed as yet but that the network is seeing interest from advertisers.
Advertisers on MBC include Procter & Gamble, Unilever's Lipton,
PepsiCo and Volkswagen.
The state department said it has no plans to run its advertising
campaign promoting the US as an Arab-friendly nation on Al Arabiya.
WPP group's JWT/TMI Beirut CEO Roy Haddads was quoted in Adage
as saying that MBC should appeal to multinational and Saudi Arabian
advertisers that don't want to support Al Jazeera. "The whole
objective is to counteract the sensational approach of Jazeera,"
Haddads was quoted as saying.
Impact of war
One wild card is the pending war with Iraq. While observers
believe a war could mean high ratings for news coverage on Al Arabiya,
it's hard to tell whether US advertisers will avoid advertising
on the station in the event of war. However, multinational advertisers
often have local ad offices that may continue buying ad time in
the region.
MBC was founded 11 years ago by Saudi Sheikh Waleed Al Ibrahim
and other Saudi investors. Michel Costandi, business development
director, claimed MBC will be self-sustaining in advertising in
the first 12 months, an ambitious goal say media experts.
Low ad spending in region
After three years of recession, Middle East advertising spending
totals only about $1 billion, Interpublic's TN Communications chairman
Tarek Nour was quoted as saying. Among the satellite channels, MBC
captures the most ads, followed by Lebanon's Future TV and Lebanese
Broadcasting Corp., then Al Jazeera. Although Al Jazeera's owner,
the Emir of Qatar, said when he started the station in 1996 that
it needs to become self-supporting, advertisers have been wary.
"It's clear they are having a problem in attracting advertising,"
Arabiya's Haddad was quoted as saying.
At Al Jazeera headquarters in Qatar, executives said they were
too busy to comment, says the Adage report.
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