Reality-TV Arab countries Françoise Davies, Assistant, Communications Service, EBU

Transcription

1 Reality-TV Arab countries Françoise Davies, Assistant, Communications Service, EBU 1

2 Al-Raïs has fallen silent. Reality- Françoise Davies Assistant, Communications Service, EBU 2 DIFFUSION online 2004/15

3 Al-Raïs, the Arabic version of Big Brother, adapted and broadcast by the TV satellite channel MBC based in Dubai, lasted...one week, a little bit shorter than what had been envisaged by Endemol s producers. Launched on 21 February 2004, Al- Raïs should have followed in the footsteps of other reality-tv shows, such as Lebanese LBC s Star Academy, which have been an undeniable success in the region. The Middle East Broadcasting Company (MBC) had wanted to make the show available throughout the Middle East, Lebanon, Syria and Saudi Arabia with the aim of reaching a potential audience of 12 million Arabic-speaking viewers through freeto-air satellite TV. The programme followed the highly successful international format used in the European and American shows: a house specially built for the programme, located on Amwaj Island (Bahrain), six men and six women competing against each other to walk away at the end of the 70 days with a cash prize of $100,000. Anuska Ban, Endemol s executive producer, had made compromises so as not to offend Arab and Muslim TV sensibilities and to ensure as wide an audience as possible. Men and women had segregated sleeping quarters and prayer rooms but could meet in open areas, that is to say the dining room, the garden, the kitchen and the living room. The candidates could speak on any subject, except sex, religion and politics. But Anuska Ban had not calculated on the outrage that it would provoke from Islamists and conservatives who found the idea intolerable that single men and women could live together under one roof. Imams and Islamist MPs led a demonstration that took place in the streets of Al Manama, the capital of Bahrain, on 28 February. Hundreds of men, most of whom were bearded, and several dozen veiled women demanded that Al-Raïs be taken off the air, complaining that the programme was un-islamic. Demonstrators cited the mingling of sexes, the undermining of traditional Islamic values, the alien culture of the show and the corrupting influence on the minds of young Bahrainis. And the hardliners won. They succeeded in throwing out all 12 candidates in one go without even Arab countries picking up the phone: a first in the history of Big Brother. An MBC spokesman confirmed that the show was being withdrawn, explaining that, We will never be the cause of inter-arab discord and that MBCs channels respected the family values of Arab Muslims. Noble reasons but it did not stop the channel losing $6.2 million dollars ( 5 million). Reactions The intolerant views were not unanimous. Local columnists and businessman defended the show and accused the rebel MPs of hurting the local economy. The show would have generated more than $15 million into Bahrain s economy and 200 locals had been hired by the network in Bahrain. Leading Islamic scholar and jurist Shaikh Al Asfoor criticized the duplicity of those who opposed the programme yet watched it in private. Shaikh Al Asfoor dismissed the furore made about the mixing of sexes in the show, saying that the phenomena was not new to Bahrain: young people of both sexes mixed in private schools, universities and even private houses. What about the female Bahraini students studying abroad in total freedom, the hotel discotheques, the mixed wedding ceremonies and the prostitution networks in private homes? he asked, and claimed that programmes broadcast by local, Arab and foreign satellite TV channels were far worse than Big Brother. Internet chat rooms were saturated with Muslims satisfied with the outcome. There are still other Big Brothers to ban, said a Saudi and demanded a ban on Arab channels LBC, ART and MBC as long as they continued to broadcast reality shows. For others, the arrival of reality-tv in Arab households even if broadcast under relatively tight control gave 3

4 viewers a chance to see another side of Arab life. As an Egyptian viewer lamented after the plug was pulled on her favourite show: Reality-TV could have succeeded where Arab leaders have unanimously failed: to bring Arabs together and get citizens to know each other. Yet as the debate raged, LBC s Star Academy has shown that it possible to successfully adapt a Western format the suit the tastes of a pan-arab audience. Today, from Tangier to Medina, everybody knows the names of the participants who are on the front cover of youth-orientated magazines. These show also generate considerable income for Arab channels. LBC received nearly 70 million calls (providing phone-in revenue) from 22 Arab countries. Harem The success of LBC has encouraged other Arab channels to emulate reality-tv shows. ART, the Saudi Arabian bouquet of thematic channels, launched Ala Hawa Sawa (Being Together) which followed 24 hours a day a harem of young women from different Arab countries, in search of a marriage proposal. The programme unexpectedly caused waves: Aïcha, an Algerian candidate, got through to the semi-finales and was left with the difficult choice of deciding which of three marriage proposals (Egyptian, Syrian and Jordanian) to accept: she was advised by her mother in Algeria not to accept the demand in marriage of a Syrian suitor because Syrians have a bad reputation, they beat their wives. The angry Syrian family accepted an apology thus defusing what could have become a diplomatic incident... But this paled into insignificance when, during the finale, Aïcha had a change of heart. She stormed out and locked herself in a bedroom, screaming: Believe me, I do not want to get married. In the meantime, the Egyptian fiancé sat all on his own in the truth room... Sources: Tewfik Hakem, Le succès de la téléréalité dans les pays arabes provoque la colère des islamistes, Le Monde, March 2004 Lisa O Carroll. Arab Big Brother pulled amid protests, Guardian, 1 March 2004 Lisa O Carroll and agencies, Arab reality show jilted by runaway bride, Guardian, 1 March 2004 Brian Whitaker, Reality TV grips and enrages Arab world, Guardian, 2 March DIFFUSION en online ligne 2004/15

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