Euromedia Jan/Feb 2014 | Page 5

flannel_flannel 26/02/2014 18:17 Page 1 EUROMEDIA DIGITAL MEDIA INTELLIGENCE PUBLISHER AND EDITOR-IN-CHIEF Nick Snow [email protected] MANAGING EDITOR Colin Mann [email protected] CONTRIBUTING EDITOR Chris Forrester [email protected] PUBLISHING ASSISTANT Nik Roseveare [email protected] ART EDITOR Steve Overbury [email protected] COLUMNISTS Vivek Couto Larry Gerbrandt Steve Gold CONTRIBUTORS Robert Briel - Amsterdam Dieter Brockmeyer - Frankfurt Gail Chiasson - Toronto David del Valle - Madrid Chris Dziadul Sotires Eleftheriou - Paris Philip Hunter Joe O’Halloran Farah Jifri Branislav Pekic - Rome SALES DIRECTOR Sanjeev Bhavnani [email protected] PUBLISHED BY Advanced Television Limited Bondway Commercial Centre 4th Floor, Unit 4.01 71 Bondway London SW8 1SQ Tel: [phone] Fax: [phone] www.advanced-television.com PRINTED BY Headley Brothers Ltd The Invicta Press Queens Road Ashford Kent TN24 8HH, UK Tel: [phone] Fax: [phone] [email protected] Middle Eastern media is, unsurprisingly, a reflection of the Middle East as a region; geopolitically, economically and culturally. Depending on which country you are talking about, the media is either characterised by major challenges; economic, political and cultural, or it is characterised by enormous wealth. Often, all of the above. Whether the media will play a leading or a following role in the years to come in the development of civil society, democratic institutions, free speech and human rights can only be a subject for conjecture and limited optimism at this point. The Middle East is a region of great contrasts, none more so than in wealth. As a result of oil, the Gulf has developed another massive export trade; money. Recently it has chosen to invest quite a lot of it in programme rights, in particular sports rights, especially football where it has also bought up several leading clubs. The undimmed demand for premium sports as the engine of all the world’s major pay-TV providers means this is a sector with apparently limitless price inflation built in. This makes it ideal for investors who see it as a long term play to raise the profile of their region and craft alternative sectors to their energy dependent economies. The Profit and Loss Account isn’t an issue for now, or the foreseeable future. In this context, the Qatar World Cup makes perfect sense for the region (if for no one else), and expect to see many more investments to bring teams, competitions and venues to the area. Importing the technology and skills - and then developing the indigenous skills to provide the coverage of these sports will provide a major boost to the development of the Middle Eastern media industry. Given sport’s ability to unite people and to demonstrate the benefits of co-operation, perhaps it will prove the best investment the region could ever have made. © Advanced Television Limited 2014. All rights reserved. Reproduction without permission is prohibited. ISSN 1477-8092 EUROMEDIA 5