Culture Channel director and talk show host Gamal El-Shaer told Rania Khallaf about the decision, earlier this month, to make the "specialised" Nile channels available on terrestrial TV, a move that has much to do with the upcoming presidential elections Not for nothing has the decision to make the Nile satellite channels available to millions of national television viewers been described as "historical". The drive behind the move, which took place a few weeks before the upcoming presidential elections, is said to be "a national security consideration", according to what Gamal El-Shaer describes to Al-Ahram Weekly as the "most transparent" account: "The decision was made to guarantee the loyalty of as wide an Egyptian audience as possible to the government owned channels, especially in the light of regional competition." Regarding the political dimension of the event, indeed, this is as far as El-Shaer, a poet as well as a television presenter and widely regarded as one of the more cultured media figures, will go. While the less impressive provincial channels have a developmental role to play within their respective communities, he went on to say, since their inauguration in 1998 the Nile channels have made "a remarkable leap" in the regional media world, living up to competition. Founded to service a particular locality, the provincial channels were initially broadcast all over the country; now, in line with their newly designated role, and to make way for the Nile channels, they are only broadcast in the localities in question. But making the Nile channels terrestrial is only part of the story. According to the press, already Minister of Information Anas El-Fiqi has drafted a plan to turn the channels into the Nile Satellite Company, a new, largely privatised joint venture, with the Radio and Television Union retaining 85 per cent of the business and the rest distributed among the Media Production City and the Sound of Cairo. In case of cabinet approval, El-Fiqi intends to expand the business by an estimated LE100 million, offering shares to the public within a year. It is written into the project for the channels to achieve a reasonable profit margin by developing both content and style and improving administration. Yet the most remarkable improvement so far has been in the number of viewers, something that, for El-Shaer's share of the work, at least, has prompted "a cultural reading of the now fast changing political scene". This provides for discussing "emergent liberal trends and the culture of voting", among other things, while any one or other viewpoint. In the light of a 39 per cent illiteracy rate, El-Shaer stressed the challenge of "presenting culture to our target -- average -- audience". In the context of the five categories he presides over (literature, the visual arts, science, pop culture and the Muslim and Christian faiths), to provide an appropriate balance, symphonies, he explained, are presented alongside pop music: "What will change as of now is rather tone. In a programme covering art exhibits, for example, we have introduced African and Latino music to draw in the audience. We also want to start showing very short programmes -- one to 10 minutes of intensive information in the most palatable approach possible -- and to interview the younger generation of writers and artists." With a work force of approximately 37,000, the Radio and Television Union operates 30 TV channels, all of which it owns. The Nile channels command a LE60 million budget; and half of that goes to the News Channel alone. Privatisation will certainly open up possibilities, and so, though "against commodifying the channel", El-Shaer is "all for a joint venture supported by businessmen with a vision for national culture", whom he situates in a line of descent that includes Talaat Harb, founder of the first national bank (under British occupation): "I believe in businessmen supporting cultural activities, though I'm opposed to other modes of private ownership, particularly in relation to the Cultural Channel, guardian of the nation's intellect and consciousness. With joint-venture ownership, however, we should see improvements in administration and organisation as well as better funds." Terrestrial broadcast should bolster advertisements, too, but will that be relevant to the Cultural Channel? "A marketing agency could produce integrated marketing studies to increase the number of advertisers -- an urgent step, this. Though we've received proposals to finance the production of certain programmes, I don't believe this will be enough." In this and other areas, El-Shaer stresses the necessity of keeping up with international competition. Aside from a marketing agency, "the world through Egyptian eyes" -- the channel's slogan -- requires correspondents all over the world. And since news has always been prioritised, this will hardly be forthcoming without a massive budget increase. Coverage of provincial culture, on the other hand, will be left to provincial channels: "We will cover major events, like the Ismailiya Film Festival, in addition to seeking out emerging writers and artists all over Egypt in a programme entitled Al-Qafila (The Caravan). Joint productions with provincial channels will also guarantee extensive coverage of the provinces -- with a view to promoting folk arts and traditional crafts, especially in remote areas." El-Shaer hopes that privatisation will help sustain joint productions with such Arab cultural organisations as Al-Babtin and Yamany foundations. With transmission reaching as far as Kazakhstan and Morocco, and numerous high-profile guests appearing on programmes, "the Cultural Channel is highly popular". And controversial topics are aplenty. "Confiscated Books", for example, is a programme that broaches the content of Arabic books that have been banned, while "Cultural Battles" fosters for-and-against debates on a range of sensitive issues: "Our programmes are not censored, we just take that risk. We simply maintain an ethic of dialogue, keeping away from bias. We've hosted such writers as Nasr Hamed Abu Zeid and Ali Salem." The channel seems to receive very little (live) feedback, however, compared to other Nile channels: "It's partly technical problems; the mechanism for receiving phone calls needs to be modernised, for one thing. Facilities remain very limited, seven years on: we have only one studio, developed six years ago on our own initiative, and it's in a deserted spot on the Muqattam hills. That's not enough for seven hours on air, but our requests for an additional studio in the Media Production City have been in vain. And this is not to mention the annual budget, which remains the same while costs keep rising..." Indeed countering this problem has formed part of the drive behind joint productions, notably on "Cairo through their eyes" with the French channel TV5. A "cultural studies centre" was established four years ago to explore the connection between culture and other social domains; and its publication, "Cultural Capital" has published valuable studies in this domain. The Cultural Channel, finally, is the only one that broadcasts both Friday prayers and Sunday mass: "Religion is a vital aspect of the cultural process, and we represent only the most moderate religious orientation, for tolerance, I believe, is equally important. At the same time we fight against superstition."
