“WHAT's the point?” A lot of perplexed viewers are asking each other this question, after MTV Arabia's announcement on August 20, that it would take the channel's trademark racy music videos off the 24-hour rotation in Ramadan, and broadcast only cultural news programs and reality shows. “This is just an empty gesture which will not have any lasting impact. People will just switch on to other channels and watch music videos there, “ says Samir, an IT consultant. He feels taking videos off the air is not a good way to tell people to stop indulging in music in Ramadan. “If we really believe in the idea that music videos are “bad”, they should not be aired all year through. I think it's better to leave it to individuals and let them decide whether they want to watch “bad things” in Ramadan or not,” he says. However, teenage students Rashid Iftikhar, Rafay Khan and Fadwa Jiffry say they could do with all the help they can get in cutting down on TV time during Ramadan, and appreciate the thought behind the gesture. “I don't watch music channels in the holy month of Ramadan and won't even shift to some other channels. Ramadan means giving up harmful things in our daily life -- not just not eating or drinking. Besides, why should I give up my spiritual rewards by watching music channels in Ramadan, when there are eleven other months to watch them?” says Rashid. To its credit, since its launch in November 2007, MTV Arabia has tried hard to be “sensitive” to Middle Eastern sensibilities. It vowed not to show too much skin on screen, promised to be a platform for the region's emerging talent, with shows like ‘Hip Hop-na' that featured the best Arab hip hop artists from four different Middle eastern cities, and pitched itself as a passport to the Arab youth's yearning for “self-expression”. It brought to Arab screens its global recipe for success: a 60/40 mix of international and Arab music videos, popular lifestyle series like Cribs, Pimp My Ride and Total Request Live and just the right degree of Arabization to convince viewers it was a channel “for the Arab youth, by the Arab youth and about the Arab youth.” Over the years Arabized versions of MTV programs like ‘Al Helm' (based on MTV's Made format), ‘Al Hara' (Barrio 19), ‘Akher Takka' (a Boiling Point feel-alike) and interactive programs like Waslati, (where viewers with webcams become VJs and introduce three of their favorite videos), Baqbeeq (a music trivia show where bits of trivia pop up through popular music videos), Introducing Block (featuring exclusive interviews and performances by international and Arab stars) helped make MTV Arabia a staple on the Arab street. The question is, how far can MTV go to make room for regional and religious considerations, without compromising on its global brand image -- which is primarily music and secondarily controversy and explicit content? “MTV will maintain its brand identity but will alter it to fit the religious and conservative traditions of its audience. Thus, from an Arabic perspective it will be controversial, but from a Western perspective it will be rather sedate,” said Frank Settineri, president of VeraCorp following the Channel's launch in 2007 on a debate on brandchannel.com, a forum for discussing what makes global brands tick. “ I don't expect MTV to start broadcasting Muslims singing prayers. I expect them to broadcast what the liberal youth in the Middle East finds provocative, controversial and on the edge. And that is probably a bit different from what we in the West find provocative, controversial and on the edge,” said Hj?rtur Sm?rason, Owner, Scope Communications on the same debate. Well, brand managers like him are in for a surprise. According to Samr Al-Mazouqi, MTV-Arabia's manager, “The channel will continue to play the most popular programs from MTV's international roster of reality shows, celebrity news and pop culture documentaries. As is customary with television channels across the region, MTV Arabia will air the call to prayer during Maghreb.” – with inputs by Hasan Siddiqui __
