Orientations in the Development of Pan-Arab Television for Children

This project investigates changes in the creation, commercialisation and reception of pan-Arab television content for children that have come about with the proliferation of Arab satellite television channels in recent years.

Vigorous expansion of pan-Arab television programming for children seems to have taken place as an afterthought to the main thrust of the Arab satellite explosion, with the result that research on pan-Arab children's TV is lacking in both quantity and quality. A lack of knowledge on this issue - and thus in international understanding - matters, because under-18s comprise nearly twice as big a proportion of the population in key Arab countries (39-40% in Egypt and Saudi Arabia) as they do in European countries (22% in Britain and France). Moreover, pan-Arab satellite channels are watched more than terrestrial television in most Arab households, with Eutelsat in 2010 recording satellite penetration rates of 64% in Egypt and 100% in Saudi Arabia. Recent political upheavals affecting Tunisia, Egypt, Yemen, Bahrain, Libya and Syria, largely driven by disaffected youth, make it increasingly urgent to gain a better understanding of children and young people.

In the pre-satellite era Arab governments relied on broadcast monopolies to disregard television viewers' real information and entertainment needs. Competition among privately-owned Arab satellite channels led to the introduction of new content in the 1990s and 2000s. In aiming at children, however, these channels relied heavily on imported cartoons. Indigenous production initiatives came later.

To grasp the nature of what is being produced and distributed it is necessary to examine pan-Arab broadcasters who provide for children, as well as the production houses and dubbing and animation services they rely on, to learn more about the practices and dynamics at work in these institutions and in Arab state regulation of children's content. Since Arab broadcasters buy foreign animation and formats and collaborate with non-Arab suppliers, sponsors, trainers and co-producers, there is also a need to evaluate the basis and longevity of such trade and collaboration, as well as ways in which trends in the global marketplace influence pan-Arab television for children. At the same time it is crucial to discover how children perceive and use pan-Arab satellite television content, both in Arab countries and in Arabic-speaking households in Europe.

Given these aims and objectives the research will adopt a three-pronged approach, which has proved effective in previous research on children's media culture, whereby institutions, texts and audiences are studied simultaneously. We will interview key personnel working for Arab broadcasters and the companies that supply them, while observing the processes by which children's programmes are commissioned, piloted and produced. Interviews and observations will be informed by critical analysis of relevant reports from companies and the trade press and of selected samples of indigenous children's programming. The research team will benefit from existing contacts and previous research in the region to organise audience research in households and among schoolchildren, in order to explore how they negotiate television output in developing self-identity and perceptions of otherness.

This three-pronged method will help build up a holistic picture of the commercial and non-commercial factors that underlie the evolving ecology of pan-Arab children's television and children's reception of it. It will enrich our understanding of childhood and media use in parts of the Arab region and inform creative industry players in the UK digital economy and UK export and service industries about the trajectories of development in a part of the world where societies are struggling to benefit from global integration and preserve their own separate national and pan-Arab identities all at the same time.

Benefits beyond academia will materialise before the end of Yr 1, continuing for at least 7 years from the project's start.
WHO WILL BENEFIT FROM THIS RESEARCH?
1. TV/digital media companies (UK or other) producing/distributing content for children via Arab TV.
2. Companies (UK or other) supplying educational materials/consultancy to the Arab world.
3. Arab children and their families who might benefit from improved content as a result of the project's findings.
4. UK govt. depts. that promote creative industries/exports.
5. Export associations of UK TV companies/producers.
6. Members of the diplomatic service, foreign policy advisers, the UK Department for International Development (DfID) and its EU and US counterparts.
7. International educational/cultural organisations (British Council, Anna Lindh Foundation, Alliance for Civilizations), charities (Save the Children), UN agencies (UNICEF, UNESCO) and other funding bodies (EU).

HOW WILL THEY BENEFIT? Our research addresses issues of culture and communication that affect a statistically large and strategically important segment of the population in an unstable region bordering Europe. The stakes are high for future UK and European success in managing relations with Arab countries and navigating the uncertainties caused by decades of authoritarian rule and challenges posed to the old order by a new digitally literate generation. Since today's children are the voters and politicians of tomorrow the ways in which Arab children learn to make sense of the world around them can provide pointers to the future. Pan-Arab television is an important component in public communication between Arabic-speaking children and adults. By gaining insights into all aspects of this changing field of cultural production and related state interventions, our research will contribute to and inform greater knowledge/understanding by industry practitioners, policymakers and advocates/funders of educational initiatives for Arab children.

Several Gulf states are launching major cultural and educational developments, such as the Louvre in Abu Dhabi and 'education cities' in Qatar and the UAE, which depend heavily on non-Arab input. Linked to this growth is a decisive shift towards the use of English in Gulf education and thus an ever-widening market for UK-based publishers. An even newer shift lies in belated awakening of local elites' interest in developing 'culturally appropriate' material for Arabic-speaking children. Since Gulf investors are the main financiers of pan-Arab children's programming, pan-Arab television constitutes a key site for negotiation of competing pressures regarding what is considered culturally, politically and linguistically appropriate. Our study of these pressures and how they are negotiated will enhance/foster awareness/understanding and the potential performance of any institution with commercial, strategic or philanthropic interests in cultural/educational developments across the Arab world.

To ensure users benefit our research will necessitate sound relations with key personnel involved in Arab cultural production for children. Maintaining good contact with respondents is both a key component of the study and an integral part of the Pathways to Impact. The investigators will use their extensive industry contacts, forged through previous research to communicate findings formally and informally. For this the Arab Media Centre's June 2010 conference on 'Children's TV in the Arab World' has already served as a launch pad. The research project itself envisages
(a) An industry-academe workshop in the UK
(b) Expert roundtables in Lebanon and Morocco
(c) A final knowledge transfer conference in the UK.
All the above will involve a significant non-academic presence. A report and press releases on project findings will be released at the final conference in English and Arabic, with an Arabic summary distributed to Arabic-speaking research participants.