Radio In The Middle East

Radio In The Middle East

 

    When radio first came into this world, people thought it would prove to be the newspaper killer even as when TV emerged people believed it would overpower radio. However, not only have the three medium survived, they have grown together with each other. In the Middle East however, radio has yet to realise its full potential.  

Historically radio in the Arab world has been state sponsored and controlled leaving a lot of questions about its objectivity and its ability to grow. However, liberalisation in most of the Arab world in the last decade has ensured that the radio segment in the Arab world, though small today, will have a long way to go in the future.

According to a report titled ‘FM Radio in the Arab World 2012’ by the Arab Advisors Group, by the end of 2011, there were close to 289 FM radio stations in 14 Arab countries. The key factor for the growth of private FM radio stations has been liberalisation. Yet, there are countries in the Middle East like Qatar, UAE and Yemen that still do not allow private radio station to come in. On the other hand, there have been other peculiar problems. In Mauritania and Algeria for example, despite licensing of private radio stations being allowed in 2011, by the end of the year there were still no private takers.

Another important factor leading to the growth of radio stations in the region has been the presence of a large number of expats leading to FM channels in multiple languages. Take the case of UAE that has FM channels broadcasting in Arabic, Malayalam, English, Hindi, Urdu, Tamil and Persian.

It is hence not surprising that radio manages to attract only a very tiny proportion of the US $ 4 billion that is spent on advertising in the Arab world. The ad space here is dominated by television and newspapers. That, however, is set to change.

The absence of something in any region is an invitation for daring players to make an entry into the market to grow the market, and thus reap its benefits. Hence, though it came as a surprise that Indian Hindi-language station Radio Mirchi hit the airwaves in the UAE as part of their global expansion drive, it was but a very calculated move by India’s largest FM player. Their confidence was evident when they even flew Bollywood star Rani Mukherjee to Abu Dhabi to launch the station whose format would be a mix of music and chat. The FM station is collaboration between the Entertainment Network (a subsidiary of The Times of India Group) and Abu Dhabi Media (ADM).

The future of radio in the Middle East is thus bright. The air waves are just opening up and though it is still to attract major investors, the time is not far when both investors and advertisers will see the potential. Radio thus has nowhere to go but up.