The Journal of Middle East Broadcasters (MEB Journal) is the official publication of the Middle East Broadcasters (MEB) Association, the first and only professional trade association specifically focused on promoting professional growth and development of broadcasters in the 22 pan-Arab countries. 

The MEB Journal is the first comprehensive magazine focused on the Arab media and television industry. The MEB Journal covers all aspects of the emerging broadcasting and production sector in the Middle East, featuring exclusive industry news, high profile interviews and in-depth reports on all the latest trends shaping the business.

Cover Story: DEMOCRATIZING THE ARAB SCREEN
By Nour Malas with contributions from MEB Journal editors

Arab television has been pulled out of the hands of government officials and seized in the tight grip of a few big business moguls, who seem to control television ratings and direct industry trends from inside executive boardrooms. With little or no research and limited understanding of how to improve their performance, some of these broadcasters acquire Western programs, copy ideas from abroad, and insist that only scantily-clad dancing girls and foreign pop culture can raise ratings. What does the Arab viewer really want to watch?

“A whole ten minutes have passed and we haven’t spoken about sex,” Zaven Kouyoumdjian says with mock astonishment and a sly glance at the camera. Zaven is the agent provocateur of Arab satellite television and the host of its longest-running social talkshow.

Viewers who tuned into Sire Wenfatahit that Monday night saw a report about diabetes in the UAE, which is three times the global average. And the following Monday, Zaven treated viewers to an episode on dying languages, presented exclusively in Modern Aramaic.

Broadcast weekly on Future Television, Sire Wenfatahit has become a yardstick for successful programming in Arab televistion. It is bold, diversified, and interactive. Over the past seven years, it has taken viewers on a roller-coaster of the region’s social ills and issues: domestic violence in Lebanon, dyslexia in Kuwait, Saudi Arabia’s budding film industry – and even sex.

All the controversy began in 2004, when Zaven hosted an episode on what he calls “the technicalities of sexual behavior.” The show sent a shockwave through the Middle East.

“We discussed things that might even be considered unconventional on American or French television,” says Zaven, who hosted doctors, sex therapists, and Islamic specialists on the episode. “If we want to talk about sex in the Arab world, we always talk about it under the umbrella of education,” he says.

“I wanted to talk about pure sex, and I did. And it changed all conceptions of sexual behavior.” The message sent to viewers – in graphic language and gestures – was that sex in its many forms is not sinful. Ratings for that episode were unprecedented, although it put Zaven – who was already criticized for being “too Western” – in a strong spotlt light. People started talking in earnest about the role of television in the modern Arab world.

Over four hours a day are spent in front of the television screen, and more than half of the viewers are under the age of 25. Illiteracy is placed at 60%. And the tug-of-war over social values is played out on LBC and Rotana, Iqra’ and Al Manar.

“Why did I do it? I don’t know. I felt like doing it,” confesses Zaven. “Did I do it for the ratings? Maybe – I die for ratings.”

Download Middle East Broadcasters (MEB) Journal, January/February, 2008

PDF format, 13MB, 27 Pages.

Visit MEB Journal Official Website

Published by The Middle East Broadcasters (MEB) Associations.

The Middle East Broadcasters (MEB) Association is the first and only professional trade association specifically focused on promoting professional growth and development of broadcasters in the 22 pan-Arab countries.

The MEB Association is dedicated to improving the quality of television and radio broadcasting in the Middle East. The MEB Association is supporting the region’s massive investment in broadcast technology by providing practical education, the latest techniques, and the newest ideas to the Middle Eastern professionals who are operating these stations. Neither political, sectarian, ideological, nor nationalist, the MEB Association advocates for excellence, diversity, and accuracy from all broadcasters in the Middle East.

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