USC Center on Public Diplomacy

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Published: MAY 26, 2005 - 11:34AM PDT

Worldcasting
CPD Fellow Alvin Snyder reports on issues in international broadcasting for the USC Center on Public Diplomacy.

THE ARAB SATELLITE SONG BOOM: IS IT TOO HOT FOR US GOVERNMENT BROADCASTERS?
MAY 26, 2005 - 11:34AM PDT
by Alvin Snyder

There's a boom in the popularity of Arab songs on the most successful channels in the Middle East. The digital music marketplace is very technically advanced, and U.S. government broadcasting isn't keeping pace. Apart from the news channels which carry on the war of ideas, many in Arab countries would rather watch video clips of Pussy Samir, a singer/dancer, and Boozy Samir (no relation perhaps, but also a singer/dancer), on the "Melody Hits" satellite channel and website, among many others like it. The popular "Melody Hits" calls itself "the first and only interactive 24-hour music channel in the Middle East." Launched only last September, its music videos are carried both on Egypt's Nile Sat satellite and on the Internet. The state-of-the-art Arabic channel is "powered by IBM," from the good old U.S. of A, of course, which enables one who logs onto Melody Hits to select music videos, or digital audio songs, of one's choosing, including "Hot Links" to top 40 music videos, top 40 Melody Hits on TV, top 40 songs, Melody Internet Radio, and more than 100 Mobile cell phone videos. Meanwhile, over at the web site of the U.S. government's Radio Sawa, whose broadcasting debuted more than three years ago, one may listen to the radio facility's audio array of real-time music, news and information programs, but its bare-bones web site contains no retrieval database for those who may wish to cherry pick from a wide range of choices, which today's Internet provides. Mouafac Harb, news director of the U.S. government's Middle East Broadcasting Networks, Radio Sawa and TV Alhurra, says that funds have been requested to spruce up Radio Sawa's web site capabilities, but that costly additional music licensing rights would need to be obtained. These issues stand in the way of U.S. broadcasting becoming a real player in the sizzling popular market. There are about a dozen other Arabic music TV channels, such as the Rotana TV Channel which boasts the biggest Arabic music library in the world, featuring 2,439 video clips, plus thousands of "Live Songs in Concerts and Music Festivals," and the Mazzika channel. Dream satellite TV was launched on Egypt's Nile Sat commercial satellite four years ago with its 24/7 all music format, followed by Melody and Mazzika, which became commercial successes. Two privately-owned Egyptian music radio stations followed, the Arab pop music Najoum FM and music archives and the English language music facility, Nile FM. Showtime Arabia Music offers ten digital music channels 24/7, including Arabic music, videos and MTV Europe. Orbit whose packages include 20 radio channels, is available on the Arabsat and Nilesat satellites. But the brakes have been put on some of the content of music videos which are felt to exceed the limits of good taste. Videos of the 24-year-old performer known as "Ruby," whose real name is Rania Hussein, are not shown on Egyptian TV because they are considered too sexy, reports Brooke Comer, in TBS Journal. Egyptian dancer Boozy Samir's music videos, as well as…... FULL TEXT