Mr. Naguib Sawiris announced the launch of a new satellite TV channel with a paid-in capital of USD17 million. The company seeks growth within the regional media production market, and plans to expand its ownership through an IPO once it starts to achieve reasonable profitability.
The FT had done a story on this in May 2006 where Sawiris explained he had political reasons for doing this too:
The head of the Cairo-based Orascom Telecom Holdings, the region’s largest mobile telephone operator, is already majority-owner in two satellite television stations, Melody music and Melody films. He is now starting a third entertainment channel dedicated to young audiences and has applied for a licence to launch a 24-hour satellite news channel for Egypt’s domestic market.
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Mr Sawiris is also expecting gradually to turn an Iraqi terrestrial general channel he owns into a broader regional satellite news channel to one day compete with the popular Qatar-based al-Jazeera and Saudi-owned al-Arabiya.The foray into satellite media, a field that, outside al-Jazeera, has been largely dominated by Saudis – Prince Waleed bin Talal, the high-profile international financier, has been building his own satellite media empire – appears to be driven by business as much as political motives.
An outspoken secular businessman, with wealth estimated by Forbes Magazine at $2.6bn (€2bn, £1.4bn), Mr Sawiris wants to win the hearts of Arab youth by promoting a more liberal Arab society.
“When I started Orascom I started a regional activity, and I believe I can replicate the story in media,” he said, on the sidelines of a World Economic Forum conference in the Egyptian Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheikh. “Here [in the Middle East], most stations are family-owned, royal-owned or government-owned.”
The only hope for the region, he said, was a change in education to combat religious fundamentalism and extremism: “There is terrorism because they [young people] have nothing to look forward to.”
While his opinion is laudable, I don’t think watching more episodes of Friends is exactly the kind of character-building activity that lures young people away from terrorism. Hopefully, though, it’ll be better than the UAE/Saudi dominated entertainment channels.
What’s up with the “secular businessman” tag and references to promoting a liberal society and fighting extremism, is he angling for a U.S. grant or is he a businessman?
Does anyone know anything on how the Orascom TV channel in Iraq is doing? That one is much more interesting if Sawiris talks that way.
I met an employee of the new satellite channel the other day, and she didn’t even seem to be aware of the one over there.
Sawiris did at one point publicly express interest in launching a terrestrial in Egypt. That would truly be revolutionary, if the state let go of its broadcasting monopoly, even if the channel was not particularly politically courageous.
To be fair to Sawiris, just because he’s a liberal guy and interested in furthering those values does not mean he’s a US stooge. We don’t call George Soros a US stooge, after all. I wish more Arab businessmen were civic-minded and willing to put their money where their mouth is. The problem with Sawiris, though, is that I am not sure whether this liberal stuff is real or phony.
It would certainly be revolutionary in the sense that the state would give up its monopoly. But do you think such a terrestrial channel would make a big difference?
How many Egyptians don’t have access to satellite TV, either at home or via neighbours, ahwas, etc.? Can’t be that many.
Not at all suggesting he’s a stooge, but simply that the secular-liberal rhetoric at an economic forum and coming from a businessman uninvolved in any sort of politics sounds a bit gratuitous. Like he’s throwing it in so that he fits the desirable profile of the month.
I think it would necessarily be huge because it would be specifically Egypt-oriented TV available right in your home — a big difference from having to go to the qahwa, especially for women and children. And if it’s going to be profitable, it’s going to have to attract viewers with some hot topics. I think if everyone could watch rayiss at-tahrir (Ibrahim Eissa’s old show if I’m not mistaken) or al-Qahira al-Youm from home, we’d see a change in political apathy. Politics would become fashionable and exciting because it will be marketed that way (look at how conservative talk radio and Fox News virtually created an obnoxious right-wing populist audience in the US).
Unless of course the new channels strictly do entertainment. Unfortunately the experience of private radio stations has shown that’s the case.
I have been watching Aljazeera/English for an hour or two daily for about three weeks using an Mpeg2 tv receiver aimed at satellite T-5, ku band. Reception is perfect here in California on several channels. In my opinion the balance of news, opinions and features is interesting, thorough and complete. It leaves American network news in the dust. Having lived and/or travelled in many parts of the northern hemisphere, including Turkey, Iran, Morocco,Ivory Coast and Senegal, I have a much more international outlook on things by far than the average american. Long Live Aljazeera !