CAIRO - Around 16 new satellite channels are vying for Arab audience's attention - a piece of news that would have been hard to believe before Egypt's January 25 revolution. Freedom has now spread into all areas, including the media. One of these new channels is Al Tahrir (Liberation), owned by Mohamed Mourad, who hopes it would live up to its name. Mourad explained that the motivation for launching his channel was the January 25 revolution, in addition to the blackout that was imposed on news channels. “It was the idea of my friend Ibrahim Eissa, who is a journalist,” Mourad said, and mentioned some of the most important programmes that the channel would present: ‘Midan Al Tahrir' (Al Tahrir Square) by Ibrahim Eissa and a programme by the celebrated show host Mahmoud Saad. “Saad's programme will be totally different from his previous ones, particularly ‘Misr En Naharda' (Egypt Today) on official TV. We also want to introduce new faces,” he added. Al Tahrir channel is not the only one that was launched recently. Another one is ‘El Beit Betak' (The Home is Yours), belonging to interior designer Mahmoud Baraka. “El Beit Betak was a programme that I produced since 2004. It was so successful that I thought there should be a channel with the same name, even more so after the revolution,” Baraka said in an interview with the Arabic-language Radio and Television magazine. The motto of Baraka's channel is ‘Come and build Egypt', asserting his intention to introduce a respectful medium in tune with the post-revolution mindset. When asked whether he was just upstaging the revolution, he replied: “What is the problem with launching my channel as part of this huge event? The revolution will bring great change to Egypt, and that includes the media!” Baraka added that the prominent businessman Naguib Sawiris would be his partner, but without interfering in the channel's policy, as stated in their contract. “The actual programme ‘El Beit Betak' will still be shown, but in a new look. We will also broadcast European programmes in Arabic,” Baraka added. Modern Horeya (Modern Freedom) is another channel that was launched a few days ago. “Our new television has no restrictions or particular direction, it will express all Egyptians' views,” said Walid Deabes, the channel's owner. One of the main programmes to reflect this mission statement, Deabes mentioned ‘We Are Egyptians' by Gamal Heshmat, a liberal talkshow to be broadcast each Thursday and Friday. There will also be a programme called Friends about the ideas and problems of the young. Among the most interesting new channels is ‘25' , launched three weeks ago, which showed its identity from the very first moment. “We decided to launch our channel on April 6, the anniversary of the famous strike in 2008, that demanded economical, social and political reforms,” said Mohamed Gohar, the channel's owner. “The first programme we aired was ‘A demonstration in Al Tahrir Square'. They took place every Friday to keep the spirit and momentum of the revolution going,” he added. Gohar said that the channel's main aim was to present programmes that truly showed reality and expressed the revolution's concepts and demands in a professional way. They would accommodate the tastes and interests of all Egyptians, such as Arwa Gouda's programme Where To, where she walking in the streets to explore ordinary people's problems and demands. Banned before the revolution, the Muslim Brotherhood has now become part of the political scene in Egypt. It has also decided to launch its own channel and political party. “When we decided to create a political party that expresses our ideas, we thought it would be good if we also had our own channel,” said Mohssen Radi, a Muslim Brotherhood leader. “The channel will have variety, but stay on the path of Islam,” he added.
