Regional Publishing International 50
GULF REGION
An attractive environment
New titles continue to launch while publishers
begin to face certain commercial realities.
The rapid pace of infrastructure develop-
ment in the GCC* over the past few years not
only continues, but appears to be accelerat-
ing while at the same time extending beyond
the confines of Dubai, into the neighbouring
Emirates of Abu Dhabi, Sharjah and Ras Al
Khaimah and further along the Gulf coast to
Bahrain and Qatar. This makes for a vibrant, Copyright © Karel Golta
fast-paced publishing environment that has
seen no let up in new launches, be they li- they newsstand, single copy subscriptions or sophisticated by both an influx of expatriates
censed editions of International Brands or bulk. In addition to managing their print runs and the socio-economic development of the
home-grown titles. However, there are signs more efficiently and their cover prices more local population who are also seeing substan-
that the exuberance of the past few years will effectively domestic and regional publishers tial increases in their disposable income
soon be tempered by the same commercial re- are actively seeking to export their titles with-
alities faced worldwide by the industry. in the region and beyond. While this has his- On the newspaper front, following in the path
Large publishing houses, while still launch- torically been the case for Lebanese publish- of the FT and IHT, both of which have been
ing new titles are simultaneously seeking to ers, who have found the GCC to be a lucra- printing in the region for several years, News
consolidate other parts of their portfolio and tive market, GCC publishers have tended to International recently granted the license to
build on their most viable brands. Regional print the International Edition of The Times
publishers acknowledge that there has been of London to SAB Media. The FT recently
an over-reliance on advertising revenue in Regional publish- made the decision to switch from printing the
favour of circulation revenue and are now Asian Edition to printing the European Edi-
actively seeking to convert portions of their ers acknowledge that tion. A number of other major international
Controlled Free Distribution into paid for newspaper publishers continue to study the
bulk. Greater attention is also being paid to there has been an over- viability of entering the market. Significant
cover prices, while the average remains low, developments in the domestic newspaper
around US$ 2.50, there has been an increase reliance on advertis- publishing arena are the closure of the short-
in overall circulation revenues. lived sports free-sheet Sport 100 and the
ing revenue in favour launch by Gulf News (the region’s highest
It remains an attractive environment for for- circulated English language daily) of a weekly
eign publishers to license regional editions of of circulation revenue free-sheet entitled Xpress.
their titles. In addition to the well established
regional editions of Time Out, HELLO, and are now actively The GCC market offers lucrative opportuni-
OK!, Grazia, Car, Forbes, Autocar notable ties that both regional and international pub-
new launches include such marquee titles as: seeking to convert por- lishers are trying to tap into and it should do
Stuff, Harpers Bazaar, EVO and Elle, as well so for the foreseeable future. Censorship re-
as more niche titles such as Intersection and tions of their Control- strictions are (at least in the UAE) becoming
QP. It has not all been smooth sailing though, more relaxed and the scope of activities that
which was demonstrated in notable fashion led Free Distribution foreign companies can engage in while retain-
recently when a Dubai-based newspaper ran ing 100% ownership of their local subsidiar-
a story in which Condé Nast Chairman John into paid for bulk. ies is becoming broader. These developments
Newhouse was alleged to have rejected an indicate that the region has opened up to the
offer to license Vogue locally because he be- limit their circulation to the countries they are rest of the world and is ready for business.
lieved the values of the Muslim Arab world based in, especially in the United Arab Emir- Narain Jashanmal
vis-à-vis women’s rights are inconsistent with ates and Dubai in particular. The decision to
those of Vogue. export is driven by both the advertiser, who *GCC: Gulf Cooperation Council, comprises of Ku-
New titles bring increased competition for is increasingly demanding regional coverage, wait, Bahrain, Qatar, United Arab Emirates, Oman
both advertising revenue and copy sales, be and by a readership base that is growing more and Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
AAU07_2722_Inhalt.indd 50U07_2722_Inhalt.indd 50 008.11.2007 13:51:37 Uhr8.11.2007 13:51:37 Uhr
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