Northwestern University in Qatar (NU-Q) has released results from its Media Industries in the Middle East report, a co-operative effort with the Doha Film Institute, on television programming during the month of Ramadan.
The region-wide study pointed to a general expansion of channels and offerings across all sectors, including broadcast, print, and digital media. The report showed that new content also tended to represent a wider variety, created by a broader diversity of content producers.
Northwestern’s report on the media industry has provided additional resources to understanding the media landscape in this region, said Everette E Dennis, dean and CEO, NU-Q.
The report delved into 11 separate media sectors, including television, magazines, radio, religious TV and TV programming during Ramadan. The report found that on five top free-to-air, general interest channels three-quarters of all programmes shown during Ramadan are scripted, compared to about half during the rest of the year. Drama is also mentioned as the most popular category.
Prayers and religious programmes also increase substantially, accounting for an average of eight hours of programming per week during Ramadan, versus two hours during non-Ramadan months.
During Ramadan, Arabic TV channels are more popular than at other times of the year. At five major stations in the report’s focus countries, almost half of the programming consisted of scripted material – that is about three times more than other months. Among the non-scripted programmes, those with a religious theme become more important.
Joe Khalil, associate professor in residence at Northwestern, provided expert commentary for the report in which he said: “Entertainment television channels traditionally compete over the rights for the latest in Turkish, Egyptian, Syrian, and Gulf dramas – with increased production in the UAE and Saudi Arabia. They also compete against government-owned television channels that tend to offer programmes with ‘extra local flair’ – usually religious and social programming.”
The media industry report noted that television stations in the region prepare significantly for the Ramadan season and often broadcast a new episode every day, rather than once a week; however, the share of reruns versus first-run shows is also larger during Ramadan as channels show reruns on the same day so viewers can catch missed episodes of newly released series.