Arabic television is counting on an explosion ofRamadan serials to restore losses from the global recession, but some concerned Muslims are scrambling to pull the faithful back to prayer during the holy month.
Around 60 serials hit the screens on more than 400 channels this month as producers have used bloated budgets and big names to lure advertisers during a fiercely competitive period for Arabic television dramas.
"Ramadan is the most attractive month for advertisers," television critic Adel Abbas in Cairo told AFP, putting the ad budget -- a good chunk of which is for fast-moving consumer goods -- in Egypt at half a billion Egyptian pounds (100 million dollars) in Ramadan alone, 40 percent of the annual budget.
According to regional experts, 30 seconds worth of advertising costs 3,362 dollars this month when families gather around the television after the breaking of the dawn-to-dusk fast.
The financial crisis brought revenues from publicity down 26 percent in the United Arab Emirates for the first half of 2009, and down five percent in Saudi Arabia, according to Abu Dhabi's The National.
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