Two months ago, the Council of Ministers in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia sanctioned three resolutions that will see the Kingdoms media landscape undergo dramatic changes. In an exclusive interview with Vijaya Cherian, Deputy Minister for Information Affairs at Saudi Ministry of Culture and Information Dr Riyadh Najm talks about the resolutions and what changes […]
Two months ago, the Council of Ministers in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia sanctioned three resolutions that will see the Kingdoms media landscape undergo dramatic changes. In an exclusive interview with Vijaya Cherian, Deputy Minister for Information Affairs at Saudi Ministry of Culture and Information Dr Riyadh Najm talks about the resolutions and what changes they will bring to the Kingdoms media
The media landscape in Saudi Arabia has been undergoing radical changes in the last few months that will culminate in the corporatisation of Saudi Radio and TV and Saudi Press Agency, the establishment of an Audio Visual Commission and the rollout of a TV audience measurement system.
A resolution passed in early summer this year will see authorities speed up the corporatisation of Saudi Radio and TV. While the media entity will remain a government body, it will now have the freedom to operate autonomously. This will mean that it will run as an independent corporation with a board and be more commercially accountable.
Dr. Riyadh Najm, Deputy Minister for Information Affairs says the main objective of corporatising Saudi Radio and TV is to make it more competitive and more responsive to market changes because there is more competition from other radio and TV networks in the MENA region.
To be more competitive, we have to work with new schemes and systems. It has to be more flexible and there should be greater autonomy to make decisions in terms of sourcing the right skills and encouraging a more dynamic and proactive work ethic. This is presently not the case. It will have a board and operate autonomously but will continue to receive a budget from the Ministry of Finance for a while as it is presently not self sustaining. But the idea is to eventually be self financing.
Presently, Saudi Radio and TVs income goes straight to the government treasury. The new format will enable the media entity to utilise the income it generates for its own expenditure, adds Dr. Najm.
Perhaps one of the biggest challenges of corporatising Saudi Radio and TV is that its workforce is used to working in a typical government environment. That will now change.
We have the legacy of a big organisation but part of it is not productive enough. Jobs were previously guaranteed even if one failed to deliver. Corporatising a media entity and making it accountable revenue wise puts pressure on each person in the corporation to deliver. If they do not deliver, the new environment will no longer be in a position to accommodate them as we will no longer have the luxury of relaxed funding. When we have to be self financing, the pressure will be greater but the workforce will also then be more productive, Dr. Najm explains.
In the meantime, Saudi Arabias present printing and publishing law, which was instituted about 20 years ago, is fairly outdated and does not adequately address the other media platforms including TV, radio and other devices. A new Commission is, therefore, being set up to oversee various elements of the media environment including TV, radio, and audio-visual services across all types of platforms.
The Commission will act as a regulatory body that serves Saudi TV and radio, both private and public entities, and the telecom networks that carry media and audiovisual services. It will also be responsible for issuing licences in this sector.
The main objective of the Commission is to serve and regulate Radio and Television in the Kingdom. However, with the audio-visual services undergoing such dramatic change and telcos becoming an integral part of the media revolution, we felt we needed a body that could serve all of these diverse services, explains Dr. Najm.
The deputy Minister also points out that the present environment is not favourable to issuing licences for private channels to operate from Saudi Arabia. The Commission is aimed at addressing that issue and on a larger scale, creating a more friendly and attractive media environment for operators.
The Audio Visual Commission is the last part in the jigsaw to restructure the AV laws.
Presently, we are in an unfortunate situation where most of the capital invested in the media within the region is by Saudi investors and targeted at Saudi audiences; but none of those revenues benefit our country as they are run from outside the Kingdom. We are unable to establish an AV industry here because we do not have a proper ecosystem and regulatory structure to empower it. We need to be able to build this industry and offer job opportunities to our people. The Commission is a positive step in this direction.
One new law that is being drafted by the relevant regulatory bodies is the Audio Visual (AV) Act. The new act is aimed at enabling greater flexibility for different media entities to operate within the Kingdom although it will still be within the ambit of the cultural values that are fundamental to Saudi Arabian society.
The new AV Act is under review. The law will be used and implemented by the Commission. We estimate this will take about six to 12 months to put in place. During this period, we will continue to work with the existing publishing and printing law.
The charter of the Commission is also being drafted. It will have to be approved by the Council of Ministers, adds Dr. Najm.
The AV Commission will be run by a board that will be headed by the Minister of Culture and Information. Several relevant government bodies will have representation on the board in addition to few key players from the private sector.
At present, it is not known who will head the Commission. However, the plan is to ensure that the Commission is run by a small group of highly skilled staff rather than figure heads.
We began work on this four years ago when we first put together the first draft of the Broadcast Act. The draft needs to be revised now to reflect all new international developments and practices. It is a very challenging but important time for the Kingdom as this Commission and the relevant laws will bring much needed change to our media and create a more dynamic environment, explains Dr. Najm, who has been quite instrumental in all of these developments.
Once this review is done and approved by the Commission of Experts, it will be debated and reviewed by the Shura Council (parliament) before it becomes a legislation, adds Dr. Najm.
On a parallel level, the Ministry of Culture and Information is also presently supervising the implementation of a TV Audience Measurement body in Saudi Arabia. It will involve establishing a company owned by major Saudi TV networks and media owners who will contract an internationally recognised operator to execute the project. An Industry Board, comprising TV channels, advertisers and MBUs, will be established to take technical decisions. As part of the process, an experienced auditor will also be contracted to oversee the integrity of the whole project. It is expected that the sample size for the Kingdom will be 2000 households. Further details of this initiative will be announced in September 2012 with the intention to begin supplying audience data within 12 months.
