ATV still not allowed to broadcast

It’s been 23 days since the Audio Visual Commission stopped ATV’s August 1st scheduled launch, and ATV’s management announced yesterday that it’s giving its 330 employees a 10-day paid leave until September 1st, and assuring that it will resort to legal channels if efforts to launch reach a deadlock, according to a Jordan Times article today.

Hours before ATV’s planned launch on August 1, the channel’s broadcasts were halted by the Audiovisual Commission, which asked the station to complete technical requirements.

At the time, the channel said it was sure of the completion of its paperwork and the preparedness of its staff and grid in accordance with the high standards it promised viewers.

On August 9, the launch faced a new hurdle after the Jordan Radio and Television Corporation (JRTVC) insisted that an agreement between the two establishments only tackles terrestrial transmission.

Last year Jordan Television (JTV) leased its Channel Two, a terrestrial channel, to ATV, which now owes the corporation JD2.5 million under this agreement, according to JRTVC Director General Faisal Shboul.Shboul said the satellite broadcast was not covered under the April 2006 deal.

Meanwhile, ATV director Muhannad Khatib told the Jordan Times that the audiovisual commission is delaying them deliberately in order to serve JTV during the high viewership season of Ramadan, when there are lots of commercials, which will be a source of revenue to JTV during the month.

“The commission is refusing to allow us to start satellite broadcast until we settle our issue with JTV, which is not their mandate and not under their jurisdiction. The Audiovisual Commission cannot act as a lawyer for JTV or a collection agency for them,” said Khatib.

The ATV managing director said the commission was trying to link the satellite transmission to the terrestrial broadcast and force the channel to pay its dues to JTV.

He added that the channel has two agreements with the commission, one for satellite and the second for terrestrial, which do not specify simultaneous terrestrial and satellite transmission.

“The only body that has the authority to rule on any dispute is a court of law and if all efforts to launch the deal fail, we will take legal action against those who are preventing us from starting the broadcast,” said Khatib.

Personally, I think that JTV should have some self respect and not get involved in the issue right now, because it really looks like they’re trying to deliberately delay ATV’s broadcast. JTV lost the game to Arab satellite TV long ago… people can’t sympathize with them. They should’ve gotten their act together and tried to save their viewership long ago! ATV has been preparing for launch for the past two years now, anyone working in the media field in Jordan knows that this high-budget private TV station means business, and that they are not like the other private Jordanian TV stations that no one really knows of like Normina and 7Star!

Besides, JTV and the Audio Visual Commission lose credibility when JTV director Faisal Shboul was the acting director for the Audio Visual Commission at the beginning of August, when the decision to stop ATV’s launch came out. How exactly can you be the regulator and the regulated at the same time?? Or is JTV exempt from regulation because it is, after all, government-owned?

ATV has incurred great financial losses because of this continued delay. With two of Jordan’s biggest companies and largest spenders on advertisement re-branding this month, ATV probably missed out on hundreds of thousands if not a couple of millions of JDs in potential advertising.

I hope this whole issue is resolved before Ramadan; I know of some really cool stuff in store for the month and it would be a real shame if they don’t come out!

Traffic lights, taxis, food… and more of Cairo!

When we were driving from the airport to the hotel after arriving into Cairo, I felt that the stories about the city’s congested traffic are exaggerated… I thought, hey, Amman can be pretty bad sometimes when it comes to traffic and how people drive, no?

Um, No! Not as bad as completely disregarding a red traffic light (when it’s been red for a while). It wasn’t an isolated incident; everyone just keeps going. A sign like the one below must tell you something about how bad it is…

What it says is “abiding by traffic lights is a civilized behavior”. I found it particularly amusing to see how it’s intended as some sort of awareness. I mean, just ticket people 50 JDs for crossing the red light and see how people’s attitude changes the tone was somewhat different in this:

This was in Talaat Harb St., downtown, and it says that honking without a good justification is punished by the law.

I was very impressed by the way the city is mapped out, and how very clear street names are. I had a map, and quickly learned to make good use of it. Unlike Amman, people in Cairo give directions using street names. At first it confused me… Dude, just tell me the name of the shop at which I turn, and how many blocks I need to count! But no, they tell you “at the intersection of 26 July St and Brazil St”, and you’re on your own.

We were staying in Zamalek, in a beautiful inexpensive hotel on the Nile called “Flamenco”, or as I learned to say it “Filamenco” Zamalek is an island in the Nile, connected by bridges to the rest of Cairo. Apparently it’s one of the richer neighborhoods, although the buildings don’t quite give that air. It’s also very close to downtown, to the crowded Cairo, as opposed to all the new “cities” being built on the peripheries. Zamalek is where most of the embassies are concentrated, and where a lot of foreigners choose to live. Funny enough, it’s where the Ahli Club is based! I mean, are both Ahli in Zamalek based in Zamalek???

Looking for a nearby pasta place to eat lunch on our first day, SM recommended Didos… and he hit the mark perfectly. It’s a tiny neighborhood restaurant, with a very cozy, welcoming feel to it. The food is superb, although it takes them forever to prepare. The prices are so cheap. A yummy meal of pasta cost the equivalent of 1 JD. ONE JORDANIAN DINAR!

Speaking of food, another one of SM’s terrific recommendations was Maison Thomas, apparently the best pizza place in town. But don’t think that I stuck to pasta and pizza on my first visit to Cairo. The trip wouldn’t have been complete without a good dose of the famous Egyptian Koshari, taamiyyah, and Ummu Ali, from places like Felfela and Abul Sid. Oh, and Basboussah.

I don’t know what it is with Egyptians and “foul” (i.e Fava Beans)… not only do they make their falafel from it (what they call taamiyyah, here in Jordan Falafel is made of chick peas), “Foul” also occupies a category of its own on restaurant menus.

Could that be the secret ingredient behind Egyptian’s great sense of humor?? I mean, if there’s one thing you’ve got to love about Cairo, it’s the people. One of the stories that stuck in my mind happened as I was in one of the old characteristic black and white taxis. We arrived at an intersection where a police officer was regulating the flow of traffic, and yet the driver completely disregarded that it wasn’t his turn, or perhaps misunderstood the signs from the officer, and plunged forward before being forced to stop by other vehicles. The officer came and started yelling at him. The two yelled at each other, with the driver trying to explain his position and the officer telling him that he is blind and disrespectful of police presence, and then all of a sudden, one of them said something funny and the two started laughing and cracking a couple of jokes. A third police man joined them laughing and helped the taxi driver out of the traffic mess he created. All the while I was watching the scene with a smile of amazement. This is NOT the kind of thing that can happen in Amman… nope… not as far as I know from the attitudes of taxi drivers and police officers.

But speaking of police, I must say that I really do not like that white uniform they wear in Egypt. I don’t like the uniform of army and police officers in Syria either. I respect the attention to attire here when it comes to the armed forces. It is also interesting to see the difference in corruption levels. I mean, in Jordan, you can’t pass on a money bill to an employee or officer for some procedure you need to get done. In Egypt, it’s common practice. One taxi driver was telling us about inflation and how prices have gone up. He was like “even an employee’s commission has gone up”, and when we asked what he meant by “commission”, he said you know, tip, little bribe to get your paperwork done. Interestingly, he started defending this, and saying how you can’t blame those government employees because life keeps getting harder and their salaries barely change.

On the one hand, I felt that Cairo really is much cheaper than Amman, but then when it came to certain places and items, there probably was no difference. I found the building blocks in the photo below interesting; they are not old buildings, they’re all the in the process of being built… in a busy and dynamic part of Cairo. Yet they couldn’t be any more hideous, or random!

In contrast with remnants of colonial architecture present all over Cairo as well…

Many of my friends who have been to Cairo disliked it saying it’s “too dirty and crowded”! I personally loved it. I would go there again in a glimpse if I get the chance. I would live there for a while, to get a better experience of this incredible, warm, vibrant city. One can’t really define what it is about Cairo in words!

I have more to share; Le Caire, the music of Wust El Balad, the artificial Borg El Arab, coffee and well… bits and pieces. Meanwhile, here are the pictures I uploaded on my flickr so far.

He is finally back…

… with a most honest, raw, courageous, and heart-rendering post!

Back.. sort of!

Cairo Cairo Cairo…

That short trip was really something.. very different.. very “interesting”.. very.. hard to describe! Parts of it will find their way into this blog, but in no way could the essence of my Cairo experience be fully captured by words or zeros and ones.

I’ll post more thoughts, observations, and photos, once I re-adjust my bearings!

In Cairo

I arrived in Cairo yesterday afternoon, and I already have so much to write and so many thoughts and interesting photos, mostly taken during the drive from the airport to the hotel. But I’m gonna have to keep this post short; we’re heading out to Alexandria, where the read purpose of this trip is, in one hour.

Masr… I don’t know where to start. Driving past the Gizeera Club yesterday on our way to the Flamenco hotel in Zamalek brought flashes of Ahdaf Soueif’s “In the Eye of the Sun”… a fascinating book that takes you through 20 years of modern Egyptian history through a young woman’s journey.

Zamalek is so beautiful. It’s an island in the middle of the nile, and it has a unique air to it.

I just can’t seem to find the right words to put my thoughts onto cyberspace at this moment. There’s so much about Egypt that we have grown up with, from the children’s mysteries, to the magazines, to the TV soap operas and films, to great music, and books that accompanied me in different stages of my life. I have such mixed feelings about finally being here physically, and while I just wish it wasn’t for such a short trip where I have to focus on work, it’s enough to look out my window at the Nile, Cairo’s big brownish buildings, and the incredibly vibrant street pulse (at 7:00am on a Friday), and feel a warm contentment for being here.

Photos and more coherent thoughts will come within a few days.

Waiting for ATV

I was looking forward with great anticipation to ATV’s launch, which was supposed to be yesterday at 5:00pm. I had been following the promotional broadcast over the past week, and it was incredibly refreshing to finally see private TV with a professional look and a strong and rich local coverage. ATV reporters have been all over town in the past months, shooting and preparing their programs. The Launch was postponed many times over the past year because of technical reasons and issues related to the channel’s readiness.

And then, when owner Mohammad Alayyan (who also publishes Al-Ghad and Al-Waseet), and atv’s director Muhannad Al-Khatib finally held a press conference and announced that the official launch will be at 5:00pm on August 1st… it gets postponed until further notice!!!

As Ahmad has already commented, it was reported this morning that this is because the Audio Visual Media Commission is questioning the completeness of atv’s licensing documents. atv stated that they have complied with the commissions request even though they have fulfilled all the legal requirements. They are hoping the issue will be resolved as soon as possible so that they can begin broadcasting.

If this is true, then one can only wonder what perfect timing from the commission!! Where could they have been all these months when the intensive preparations were taking place, and when all the marketing and advertising campaigns started? Personally I wouldn’t go with the argument that atv is pulling off some media stunt to create buzz. I don’t know, but in any case, all will reveal itself in due time.

ATV has managed to bring back to Jordan some of its best talents who had gone off to channels like Al-Jazeera, Al-Arabiyyah, and ART, along with many fresh new faces, and of course ones who have left the state-owned JTV for a better opportunity. I guess it’s too early to start writing and commenting on the quality of their coverage and programs, but from what I’ve seen so far from the promos, it seems like we’re in for a fresh and positive change in the local broadcast media scene. Let’s just hope they go on air soon!