Despite the high costs associated with producing television commercials this year as compared to 2009, a number of Ramadan television serials and shows have been able to attract large numbers of advertisers based on high viewer ratings. The program with the largest number of commercial advertisements throughout its 12 days on air has been the serial “Al-Gamaa,” which purports to tell the story of Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood movement. Written by Wahid Hamed and shown on the Nile Drama channel and Channel 1, the series has the highest commercial broadcasting time to date, having already aired a total of 270 minutes of commercials. The second biggest programs in terms of advertising have been “Zohra and Her Five Husbands,” starring Ghada Abd Al-Razek, showing on the Nile Drama channel; and “Sealed with Red Wax,” starring Yousra, showing on the Nile Drama channel and Channel 1. Both have chalked up totals of 183 minutes of commercials. Runners-up have been Ahmad Mekki's “The Very Big” with 141 minutes; Hind Sabry's “I Want to Get Married” with 125 minutes; and “Stories that We Live,” starring Laila Elwy, with 103 minutes. Meanwhile, several series failed to achieve much commercial airtime, such as Farouk al-Feshawy's “The Other October," Ali al-Hagar's “Sleepwalkers,” and Abbas al-Noury's “Fall of the Caliphate." Total revenue from television commercials for Ramadan programming this year amounted to LE150 million, while total production costs came to LE300 million, according to industry sources. Translated from Arabic Edition.
