VZCZCXRO9203
RR RUEHBC RUEHDE RUEHKUK RUEHROV
DE RUEHEG #0555 0791352
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 191352Z MAR 08
FM AMEMBASSY CAIRO
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 8606
INFO RUEHEE/ARAB LEAGUE COLLECTIVE

UNCLAS CAIRO 000555 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
 
STATE FOR NEA/PPD, ECA, IIP 
 
E.O.12958:N/A 
TAGS: PGOV ECPS KPAO XF EG
SUBJECT:  O TV: A RISING STAR IN THE ARAB MEDIA MARKET 
 
Sensitive but unclassified.  Please protect accordingly. 
 
¶1. (U) Summary: On March 16, A/IO met with Yasmine Abdullah Attia, 
the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Egyptian youth 
entertainment channel O TV, which celebrated its one-year 
anniversary on January 31, 2008.  In slightly more than one year, O 
TV has rocketed into the top 10 most watched entertainment channels 
in the Arab world, bypassing the Lebanese Broadcast Channel (LBC) 
and Dubai 1 in total viewers.  While maintaining its focus on 
entertainment and cultural variety shows, O TV has begun to branch 
out with documentaries on international topics such as Darfur and an 
economic program on the Egyptian stock exchange.  Most 
significantly, O TV indicated a willingness to explore cooperative 
television projects with the U.S. government that would highlight 
the lives of Egyptian students and immigrants living in America. 
End summary. 
 
---------------- 
Enter O TV 
---------------- 
 
¶2. (SBU) On March 16, A/IO met with Yasmine Abdullah Attia, the 
youthful CEO of the Egyptian youth entertainment channel O TV. 
After a year in business, O TV has exploded onto the Arab media 
scene, rising to the 10th most watched entertainment channel in the 
region and surpassing such stalwarts as LBC and Dubai 1.  Abdullah 
attributed O TV's success to its focus on programming that is both 
unconventional and targeted to a younger audience.  The programming 
philosophy of O TV is to avoid politics and focus on what is "cool, 
outside the box, and shows Egypt to be modern."  O TV is perhaps 
best known for screening American and European movies with little to 
no censorship -- a rarity in Egypt and the wider Middle East -- but 
a big draw for viewers.  65-70% of the programming on O TV is 
original.  The most popular programs, Sabah Sukar (Good Morning) and 
Masaa Sukar (Good Evening), are distinctive in their use of Egyptian 
colloquial slang and innovative set designs.  O TV also inaugurated 
the first daily program focused on the Egyptian stock market, which 
has expanded the channel's viewers to include members of the 
Egyptian business and investor communities. 
 
¶3. (SBU) O TV is the project of owner Naguib Sawaris, the richest 
man in Egypt.  His business empire includes Mobinil and several 
international telecom ventures and Orascom Construction.  He 
recently sold Orascom Cement to Lafarge for $12.9 billion.  Sawaris 
takes an active interest in the channel, micromanaging its 
programming down to the guests on O TV's talk shows.  To manage O 
TV, Sawaris appointed Yasmine Abdullah Attia, who at the age of 32 
is not only the youngest CEO of any television station in Egypt, but 
the only woman occupying that position as well.  A former national 
tennis champion, Abdullah lived in the United States for a year for 
tennis school in Texas.  Upon her retirement from tennis, Abdullah 
worked as a presenter on Dream TV, the Egyptian Space Channel and 
most recently on Channel 2's popular talk program Beit Beitak until 
her sacking by the Minister of Information for undisclosed reasons. 
Despite having no background in business administration, Abdullah 
was appointed CEO and Managing Director of O TV, giving her control 
of personnel and programming. 
 
¶4. (U) With only 450 employees, O TV is small compared to either the 
state run media (Egypt TV has 7,000 employees) or other independent 
stations like Dream TV (730 employees).  When the station began its 
operations, Abdullah made a conscious decision to recruit new 
television talent through open casting calls.  As a group, the 450 
employees of O TV are young and inexperienced; only two had ever 
appeared on camera before joining the station.  Abdullah said that O 
TV pays better than rivals Dream TV and Orbit TV.  While the station 
has not yet turned a profit, Abdullah says its operating budget is 
sufficient until the station can renegotiate the fixed advertising 
revenue contract it signed onto when it began.  Given the station's 
expanding market share and its wealthy patron, O TV is positioned to 
be a formidable regional media player. 
 
¶5. (U) O TV is seeking to expand the production of its original 
content to include documentaries on topics such as Darfur and the 
screening of independent short movies from young Egyptian movie 
makers.  O TV is also looking to acquire additional television 
channels that would focus exclusively on movies (O TV Cinema) and 
music.  Asked if O TV had any interest in pursuing programming 
production opportunities in the U.S., Abdullah was receptive to 
cooperative television projects with the Embassy focusing on the 
lives of Egyptian students and immigrants and their experiences in 
America. 
RICCIARDONE