Media in the UAE

 The media here may come across as amateur and under-developed but it has improved immensely from when I first came over in 2006.

At the end of the media breakdown section of this post, I’ll write up my opinions on where Middle East PR companies go wrong, and the best ways to get your story in the news.

There are two English television stations here. The first is City 7 and does very few new programmes. A lot of the stuff on City 7 is at least a year old and some of the presenters now work at Dubai One (the country’s other English station) its very bizarre and in my opinion not really worth reviewing.

The second channel is called Dubai One. After watching the programmes, you’ll come to the conclusion that many people working in the media in Dubai just don’t have the experience you’ll find in other countries. Many of the presenters on the shows below are quite young, and in their first ever presenting jobs, while very few have actual journalism experience. This means their interviewing style can be amateur, or presenting style is either over-exuberant or too wooden.

The channel is clearly understaffed by about 8 producers at the very least. As a result, the show reviews below should be seen in context. I was going to give you a review of each programme on the channel but it was so negative that I have just decided to give an overview on what the programmes are and you can make your own mind up.

The flagship-show Studio One, airs at 7:30 for half an hour is a magazine show, presumably aimed at families who’ve just got in from work and school. There is a cooking bit at the end, which has some amazing chefs who really should have their own shows.

Emirates 24/7 is straight after that. This is a news programme looks in-depth into issues affecting UAE residents as well as the wider international community.

Emirates News is on at 8.30pm. A daily news programme which usually starts with government stories and then goes on to other local and international issues.

Out and About is on Saturdays at 10.30am. As the name says, its about things to do out and about the country with movie reviews and sometimes interviews with celebrity personalities.

That’s Entertainment on Saturdays at 11.00am- entertainment news and events.

There are a host of radio stations here, some with news and some without. Most are music-based.

I will try not to impose my views here (since I do work for Radio 1 and Radio 2) but will try to give an honest review of the radio here as honestly as possible, but please do forgive me if I don’t.

Radio 1 104.1 in Dubai and 100.5 in Abu Dhabi

Aimed at 16-40 year olds, music-heavy and competition-oriented. News on this station is live and up to date.

Radio 2 99.3 in Dubai and 106 in Abu Dhabi

Aimed at over 35s playing tunes from 80s, 90s and now. This station is competition-based and talk-heavy in the mornings with a very full breakfast show. News on this station is live and up to date. Like Radio 1, the reporters are always out and about reporting on location.

Virgin Radio 104.4

Aimed at 16-40 year olds. Solely for the music, recorded news and weather is a side feature, mainly headlines and entertainment-heavy.

Channel 4 104.8

Presumably aimed at 16-35 year olds. To be honest I listened to this station specifically for this blog, and came up with the following: good music selection, awful presenters and no news.

Dubai 92 92.0

Aimed at over 35s, seemingly without a specific music policy.  I believe the news is recorded after 10am, but can’t be sure.

Rock Radio 90.7

Aimed at anyone who likes Rock. This station plays everything from Green Day to Nirvana to Muse to Metallica. There is no news on this station but the morning presenter does do headlines in case you missed something major.

Dubai Eye 103.8

A talk station which opens with a business breakfast show and also has one in the evening. There’s also a phone-in discussion at 8pm. The news is recorded in the afternoon. Sometimes (usually at 9pm) the news presenters leave in edits they’ve forgotten about (long pauses, coughs etc) it’s fun to look out for them.

BBC World Service 90.3 in English between 9am and 6pm and Arabic between that.

Excellent programmes and news, but the signal isn’t always amazing which can be annoying.

And just because a few people on twitter and FB messaged regarding advice for PR companies in the UAE. See below a deviation from my usual blog:

PR for Radio in the UAE …

One issue I have with the way public relations is handled in the UAE is the fact that the story isn’t tailored to suit the medium they’re pitching to.  For example, newspapers, online and television can cover chef/ barista competitions because there are pictures and they aren’t as immediate as the radio medium. On radio, we need generally interesting stories, preferably with equally interesting audio.

Another issue I have with PR here is that they don’t have a clue about news. It’s highly annoying when people ask ‘on what programme will the interview will be aired’ or ‘when does the news air’. Seriously?

My biggest bug-bear has got to be PR people who think Radio, TV, newspapers and online are all the same. For example, television is just not as popular as radio in the UAE, for a variety of reasons- it’s not developed and people are always in their cars are two reasons.

Radio 1, according to IPSOS figures has an average audience of around 600,000 listening at any one time. This figure may well be higher because surveys are not entirely accurate and the figures are also constantly changing. That’s a huge number of people. Yet PR people seem to think that it’s okay to make one of our journalists wait while a local camera crew takes about half an hour to set up and the presenter needs about ten tonnes of make up before getting on camera. Radio journalists usually need about 5 minutes of pre-recorded air time- the best 30 seconds of which will be used edited to make the dude on mic sound amazing.

The other reason why you should not make someone in radio wait is the negative effect on your story; since the quicker we get the interview, the quicker we get it on air, which equals more air time, and who doesn’t want more air time?

This follows on to another issue: immediacy. Radio is immediate, all I need is a phone line and I can report what I’m seeing, a fire, ship sinking, ridiculously boring conference whatever.

It’s okay for a newspaper journalist to wait sometimes even a week for an interview. They don’t care; they can afford to take an hour doing the interview and spend a leisurely day writing 300 words for one publication. We’ll take five minutes to conduct the interview and have it air within 20 minutes on 2 stations to more than half a million people.

Over here it’s similar for television people to take an age doing things because their story will air once in the daily news programme that evening and then go up on a website that doesn’t usually work.

So sorry about the rant, but if PR people just understood how they’re shooting themselves in the foot, they would get places quicker.

How to get your story in the news

It’s the easiest thing in the world getting your story in the news in the UAE, and if you aren’t doing it, there is something wrong. The fact that there is a serious lack of reportable news here means if you pitch the story correctly, it will get in.

The first rule, which I cant state enough is KNOW the medium you’re pitching to AND know the publication you’re pitching to. Don’t pitch a story about banks and finance to Radio 1. Pitch it to Arabian Business. Don’t pitch a story on how to address the nurse shortage to What’s on Magazine; pitch it to Radio 2. That may sound simple to some of you, but the amount of irrelevant press releases I get, this is a valid point.

If you are going to pitch to the wrong medium, just because you’re that kind of PR company, then at least do it right. So let’s go with the banking story, finance and Radio 1. How do you get your banking story on Radio 1- a totally entertainment-based station with music aimed at 16-35 year olds? Make it relevant to the listener. Give them advice on how to manage loans? How to pay for student life? Do a study, come up with a statistic- 80 percent of the people who are in high school now wont be able to afford uni. What? OMG that is shocking and very relevant to our listeners-  but don’t worry, our financial advisor can help you…and your story will get in.

Anyway, that’s all for now; I am available for hire as a consultant if you want to know more about radio, television, newspapers or online. I and my partner also provide media training for those CEOs who feel too shy in front of a camera or mic to get their message out in the right way.

Ciao