Programming

From the beginning, Egyptian television has had a strong tie with Arab culture. Historical, religious, geographical, political and linguistic bonds tied Egypt to the Arab countries. Egyptian television was influenced by Arabic literature, religion, philosophy and music. The producers of the first programs, influenced to some extent by the example of contemporary programs from the East European countries and the Soviet Union, which were heavily cultural in content, quite naturally regarded Egyptian television programs as a proper vehicle for Arab literature and the arts. Egyptian television, then, performs the function of reinforcing and enhancing Arab culture, which is defined as a heritage in creative endeavor and thought. Its programs also raise the cultural level of the ordinary viewer by presenting refined items covering scientific, literary and artistic fields, as well as a great deal of Arab music and drama on traditional themes.

 

Television is an ideal medium for disseminating Egyptian culture because that culture is family-oriented and tends to center much of its education and entertainment around the home. Never the less, the content and style of television broadcasting available to these viewers has changed over time. The government still owns and operates the medium and sometimes uses it to convey political messages, but programming is now characterized by somewhat less politically motivated programming than was characteristic in the 1960s and 1970s. It contains more entertainment and popular culture and the Ministry of Information is trying to stress these aspects and reduce the amount of political content.

Entertainment programs such as the Egyptian soap operas and Egyptian music and songs are very popular. Foreign programs are also popular, especially those from Europe and the United States, which provides Egypt with many series, such as The Bold and The Beautiful, Knot's Landing, Love Boat, and Night Rider. The famous American series, Dallas, however, was banned from television because officials thought it conveyed immoral messages to the public, especially to youth and children.

News is an important aspect of programming in Egypt because of the country's regional position and the fluctuating nature of political alignments in the Arabic-speaking area. As previously suggested, the 1960s, especially the events surrounding the 1967 war, was an era of crisis. Egyptian television penetrated the region. It was important for the government to maintain a strong news front to present its particular point of view. Newscasting in Egypt included a segment of official "commentary," when there was some special concern to be articulated. From these news broadcasts, as well as other programs, the policies of President Nasser were clear to the viewer, as were the identities of those who were considered the enemies of those policies.

As compared to the beginning of the 1960s there was a significant increase in the emphasis upon "education" at the beginning of the 1970s. It took almost the previous decade for the Ministry of Education to be convinced of the value of educational programs. Moreover, the educational programs were run first under the initiative of the broadcasters, who resisted turning any time over to the ministry. But enlightenment programs remain important in the schedule of Egyptian television and have increased measurably through the years.

Religion, of course, carries great weight in Egypt, an Islamic center. Readings from the Koran have always been broadcast on a regular basis by Egyptian television and religious commentaries or advice on proper moral and ethical behavior are featured. Coverage of the rituals of the Muslim Holy Day is presented as part of the attempt to maintain Islamic traditions and values. During the Muslim Holy Month of Ramadan, Egyptian television is exceptionally active in religious programming, exhorting the faithful and explicating the pertinence of Islamic history. In the period from 1980 to 1985 a close observer could notice an increase in religious programs.

Children's programming, which formerly was completely of foreign origin, has changed to suit the Egyptian culture. Almost all Egyptian programs for youth and women and programs dealing with art and literature have been given increased time on the television schedule.

The Current Broadcasting Industry

Egyptian information media have always been closely tied to politics. Television in Egypt is, typically, a monopoly under direct government supervision, operation and ownership. There are several reasons for this. First, the minimum cost of establishing a radio or television system is far greater than the minimum cost of establishing a newspaper, for example, and thus far beyond the capability of nearly all private persons in a developing country. Secondly, this high cost encourages the pooling of resources, or a monopoly. And because these media reach beyond borders and literacy barriers, the government has a much greater interest in controlling them or at least keeping them out of hostile hands. Anyone with a printing press has the technical capability of reaching the literate elite, and while this is seen by the government as a potential threat, it is not nearly as great a political liability as a monopoly radio station broadcasting to millions. Radio and television, which have the potential of instantaneously reaching every single person in the country and many outside it, are regarded by the Egyptian government as too important to be left to private interests. Thirdly, radio and television are newer media, and the trend is toward greater authoritarian control over all media.

But catching up with new technology and the further development of television systems demands ever larger sums. Additional funds are even more necessary for producing high quality programs. Raising revenues for broadcasting thus will remain a major problem for Egypt, especially when the country is engaged in two huge broadcast projects, Nile Sat and the Television Production City. Each of these projects is projected to cost more than 1 billion Egyptian pounds (US$1=L.E.3.40).

Moreover, the staff of the broadcasting industry represents a serious problem, especially in such a centralized television system. Currently, Egyptian television employs almost fourteen thousand people. Obviously, this large number of television workers is far above that required to produce programs and fill the broadcasting time and there are more workers than necessary for efficient operation of the two television channel services. The figure is especially excessive for a country with limited financial resources.

Along with advertising revenue and license fees (added monthly to the electricity bill) Egypt depends on sales of Egyptian programs to other countries as the main resource to finance television. Since the peace treaty with Israel, many Arab countries have boycotted Egypt's exports, yet even in these circumstances Egypt received over $20 million from television program sales to other Arab countries from 1973 to 1978. Later, the creation of a program marketing company structured to give the impression of being independent from the government enabled some countries which wanted to buy Egyptian programs to do so without censure.

Even with such modifications and strategies the financing of radio and television broadcasting will continue to be a serious problem for the Egyptian government. Despite the realization of the importance of electronic media in the internal and external political process, funds to continue the dissemination of their services have become increasingly scarce, especially in view of the educational and health needs of the country. It is obvious, then, that Egypt must continue to struggle and to compromise to find funds needed to continue national broadcasting services.

-Hussein Amin

Egypt began its television system, considered one of the most extensive and effective among all undeveloped countries of Asia and Africa, in 1960. Due to a well-financed radio service and film industry already in existence Egypt, unlike other Arab countries, was able to start television production without importing engineering staff from abroad. Even with this beginning, however, the development of television has been complicated by many other social and cultural factors.

In the late 1950s, following the 1952 revolution, Egyptian President Gamel Abdul Nasser realized television's potential for helping to build Egypt into a new nation. Though the decision to start television service had been made earlier, the joint British-French-Israeli Suez invasion delayed work until late 1959. Egypt then signed a contract with Radio Corporation of America (RCA) to provide the country with a television network and the capacity to manufacture sets. After the RCA contract was signed, Egypt began construction of a radio and television center, completed in 1960, and the first television pictures appeared on 21 July 1960, using the 625-line European standard.

From the start, Egypt did everything on a grand scale. Thus, while most nations began their systems modestly with one channel, Egypt began with three. The entire system was initially totally subsidized by the government, receiving a direct grant every year. In 1969, however, an annual license fee of $15 per set was introduced and after 1979, revenue from advertising and from the sales of programs to other countries also helped in financing. At the present time, a surcharge, which goes to the broadcasting authority, is added to all electricity bills and provides additional funding for the system.

Egyptian television began its a multi-channel operation under the control of the Ministry of Culture and National Guidance, an organization that figured prominently in the Nasser regime from the start. This ministry also used radio and television broadcasting for propaganda to support the ruling regime.

Television's role in the culture was heightened following the June 1967 war with Israel which resulted in an Egyptian defeat that was militarily, economically and psychologically devastating. Immediately after the war, there was a decrease in the amount of foreign programming shown. The third channel, over which much programming had been telecast, was eliminated, and the British and American programs that constituted the bulk of imported programs were deemed unacceptable due to the break in diplomatic relations with those countries. Almost all forms of programming on television placed less emphasis on Egypt's military capability, tending instead, toward the nationalistic, the educational and the religious. Moving closer to the country's new military supplier, the former Soviet Union, television began showing films about Soviet and East European life. These programs were either provided free of charge or were inexpensive to purchase or lease.

The general technical quality of Egyptian television declined between 1967 and 1974 when there was less money for new equipment. Generally, however, the change in government after Nasser's death and Sadat's ascendancy to the presidency in 1970 did not appear to have much effect on television programming or the structure of the federation.

On 13 August 1970, radio, television and broadcast engineering were established as separate departments under the Ministry of Information. The new decree formally established the Egyptian Radio and Television Union (ERTU) and created four distinct sectors--Radio, Television, Engineering and Finance--each of which had a chairman who reported directly to the Minister of Information.

Following the October 1973 war, the Egyptian media took a very different approach the national situation. Television programming, which took longer to produce and air than radio information, was somewhat more upbeat. As good news came in, it reflected confidence in an Egyptian recovery. After the Egyptian-Israeli engagement, Egyptian television shows dealt more often with the United Nations, the European countries, the United States and Israel. Agreements regarding military disengagements received a high priority for broadcast on the air. More than any other Egyptian mass medium, television was set to reflect the changing international political orientation of the country. Sadat's government gradually changed Egypt during the 1970s from a socialist orientation to one that was more hospitable to free enterprise and decidedly pro-West and after 1974, the door was formally opened to the West. Consequently, the number of Western programs on Egyptian television schedules increased.

The television organization decided during this time to continue the development of color. Though some believed color television was a luxury that Egypt could not afford, the favorable attitude among broadcasting officials prevailed. The French government had been successful in persuading Egypt to adopt the System Electronic Color Avec Memoire (SECAM) system and had installed its equipment in one of the Egyptian studios before the 1973 war. After the war, the decision was made to convert both production and transmission facilities to color, an action which improved the technical quality of Egyptian television by discarding the monochrome equipment that had been installed by RCA long before 1970. Older switchers and cameras, which were becoming difficult to repair or to purchase, were replaced. The new equipment was necessary for the production of programs to be sold to other countries that were also converting to color and after 1974 television revenues derived from advertising and from program sales to other Arab countries increased significantly. The Egyptian broadcasting authority changed from the SECAM system to PAL, however, in both studio and transmission in 1992.

Because of Egypt's peace treaty with Israel, many Arab countries joined the call by the more militant countries to isolate Egypt, remove it from the Arab League and boycott its exports. Many countries broke diplomatic relations with Egypt or reduced the size of diplomatic missions in Cairo. Countries that supported the boycott no longer purchased Egyptian television programs, stating that they did not need to buy directly from Egypt because so much quality material was available from Egyptian artists living outside the country. One response held that "The boycott organizers are interested in drawing the distinction between the Egyptian people and the Egyptian government." And indeed, many Egyptian producers moved to Europe to produce programs for sale to the Arab countries. However, Egyptian television program sales to the Arab World did not decrease as a result; they actually have increased.

During this period the Egyptian government was very seriously considering plans for a new satellite system. Technical staff personnel had already been sent to be trained in the United States. This undertaking, the Space Center Project, was mainly designed for the distribution of television signals that would link the country through ground stations which would receive and rebroadcast programming to the villages. The proposal became active when the Egyptian President signed a document for the beginning of Nile Satellite in 1995, a satellite that not only covers the Egyptian state but also services the Arab World.

In addition to the two centralized television networks, a new strategy to decentralize the television broadcasting system was introduced in 1985. The policy was implemented by starting a third television channel which covers only the capital city. This was followed in 1988 by Channel 4 which covers the Suez Zone. Yet another channel was added in 1990 to cover Alexandria, and in 1994 Channel 6 was created to cover the Middle Delta. Most recently, in late 1994, Channel 7 was introduced in Southern Egypt. In 1990 Egypt became the first Arab State to start an international television channel when the Egyptian Space Channel was introduced to the Arab World and later to Europe and the United States. Egypt was also the first to start a foreign national network, Nile TV, to serve expatriates in Egypt as well as to promote tourism in English and French languages.

In part as a result of these available channels, a television set has become a priority for any young couple getting married. Most prefer buying a television set to purchasing other important things for the house. Even a color set is considered a normal part of the household in middle-class families and the number of such sets has increased greatly since 1970. The price of television sets purchased in Egypt, however, reflects high import taxes, sometimes reaching 200%. This has led most Egyptians to buy their sets from abroad. Most Egyptian people working outside the country, especially in Saudi Arabia and the other Gulf States, return to Egypt with television sets because of the low prices found in the Gulf countries. Many purchasers within the lower-income class may also acquire second-hand sets from individuals or dealers who sometimes help finance such transactions.

Egyptian shops do carry a variety of television receivers. These include foreign brands as well as sets assembled in Egypt, but the imported sets have a reputation of being more reliable. The government is attempting to reduce prices of locally made sets and in 1995 the number of television sets was estimated at 6,200,000.