Why did ATV miss it’s launch yesterday?
Jordan’s first independent/private TV channel, ATV was supposed to start its broadcast at 5 PM Wednesday. Well, 5 PM came and went and.. nothing happened. THe channel’s broadcast on Nilesat just kept showing their promotional loop.
Al-Ghad daily (which has the same owner as ATV) is reporting that ATV’s launch was stopped by a decision of the Audio Visual Media Comission (the governmental regulatory body responsible for radio and TV licensing) which, according to a statement by ATV, requested that the channel submits some paper work related to it’s licensing.
ATV says that it is convinced its licensing is complete, but it has complied with the commission decision and has not started broadcasting.
What the heck is happening here? After months of preparations, can it be true that ATV doesn’t have all its paperwork in order? I find that pretty hard to believe.
ATV has started a huge ad campaign promoting its launch over the past 2 weeks. The delay of the launch to a “further date” sounds bad, although ATV said in the statement that they hope that the issue is resolved soon.
The only places that reported the canceling of the launch were Al-Ghad and Ad-Dustour dailies. I could not find any blogger reactions on Jordanblogs.net.
The rumors on Thursday will swing between allegations of government harassment of a TV channel (that many see as the last nail in the coffin of the state owned JTV) or a media stunt by ATV to create word of mouth buzz.
For me the delay of the launch added to the black cloud that seems to be hanging over the country these days spawned by the water pollution crisis, the municipal election mess and the heat wave too!
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August 2nd, 2007 at 6:53 am
I thought it was at 8, then i said it might be at 9, then said its for sure at midnight …..
& then slept and saw this post this morning …..
Because Mohammad al wakeel said he will go on air THIS EVENING!
JTV is dead, who ever trys to do what ever. I guess ATV will even be affecting pan arab and lebanese channels who all turned saudi style mostly.
August 2nd, 2007 at 10:21 am
[...] I was looking forward with great anticipation to ATV’s launch, which was supposed to be yesterday at 5:00pm. I had been following the promotional broadcast over the past week, and it was incredibly refreshing to finally see private TV with a professional look and a strong and rich local coverage. ATV reporters have been all over town in the past months, shooting and preparing their programs. The Launch was postponed many times over the past year because of technical reasons and issues related to the channel’s readiness.And then, when owner Mohammad Alayyan (who also publishes Al-Ghad and Al-Waseet), and atv’s director Muhannad Al-Khatib finally held a press conference and announced that the official launch will be at 5:00pm on August 1st… it gets postponed until further notice
As Ahmad has already commented, it was reported this morning that this is because the Audio Visual Media Commission is questioning the completeness of atv’s licensing documents. atv stated that they have complied with the commissions request even though they have fulfilled all the legal requirements. They are hoping the issue will be resolved as soon as possible so that they can begin broadcasting.If this is true, then one can only wonder what perfect timing from the commission!! Where could they have been all these months when the intensive preparations were taking place, and when all the marketing and advertising campaigns started? Personally I wouldn’t go with the argument that atv is pulling off some media stunt to create buzz. I don’t know, but in any case, all will reveal itself in due time.ATV has managed to bring back to Jordan some of its best talents who had gone off to channels like Al-Jazeera, Al-Arabiyyah, and ART, along with many fresh new faces, and of course ones who have left the state-owned JTV for a better opportunity. I guess it’s too early to start writing and commenting on the quality of their coverage and programs, but from what I’ve seen so far from the promos, it seems like we’re in for a fresh and positive change in the local broadcast media scene. Let’s just hope they go on air soon! [...]
August 2nd, 2007 at 10:47 am
it’s actually quite sad! i mean, suppose they did forget to send in the paper work, “
!” let’s wait till their airing date and then tell them about it.
now that’s the scenario if there was no foul play involved! HA! as if!
let’s just hope some ‘compensations and penalties’ will be paid, some pencils will be pushed and we’ll get to see ATV soon.
August 2nd, 2007 at 2:20 pm
the audiovisual commission spin is hotair. the channel is simply not ready and may need a few more days. to avert an investor rebellion because of the endless delays, the ATV management instigated the licensing problem with the audiovisual commission. the poor Kuwaiti investor is getting fleeced.
August 2nd, 2007 at 3:21 pm
[...] This morning I read the news that, in a last-minute step, the Audiovisual Commission, a government commission in charge of radio and TV licensing, decided to suspend the airing of ATV. [...]
August 3rd, 2007 at 3:32 pm
[...] Bloggers on the issue: Lina Ahmad [...]
August 6th, 2007 at 7:57 am
As if we already dont have any source of information other than JTV and Al-Rai and that by opening ATV we will know the truth immediately. Poor government, they still thinking about withholding information in the Internet era.