´óÏó´«Ã½ Arabic TV
| 12:46 UK time, Tuesday, 11 March 2008
The concerns that the ´óÏó´«Ã½ might be late with this project strengthen the case made in my previous post - this channel urgently needs big promotion; the image and brand will not be enough to make a big enough splash in a crowded market. It's not sure the ´óÏó´«Ã½ has the budget for that, instead relying on the name and a 70 year history in Arabic radio.
The editorial standards are bound to be high (full disclosure: a couple of years ago I helped train Arabic Service stringers in interview techniques.)
But other news channels are much more eyecatching and outrageous. So unless ´óÏó´«Ã½ Arabic do it standing on their heads, it'll be hard to catch the attention of an audience that can now choose from hundreds of channels.
Comments
I think the main thing to note would be whether the new TV service manages to transcend, on a perceptive scale, the east/west divide. If it manages to get accused of bias by both sides, then it is doing a good job. Then it will have a promising future.