Showtime Arabia exec's theory works for Arab bird
Featured Player: Peter Einstein
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That was the challenge facing Peter Einstein, prexy and CEO of satcaster paybox Showtime Arabia, the joint venture between Viacom and Kuwaiti investment company Kipco, which is now 10 years old.
There are some 200 free-to-air satcasters across the Mideast. On top of that, Einstein had to contend with rival pay platforms ART and Orbit, both bankrolled by seemingly limitless Saudi petro-dollars.
"Unlike many of the companies, we have a relentless focus on the top and bottom line," comments Einstein from his Dubai office. "Many of these other companies are driven by ego. My objective from day one has been to bring a return to the shareholders."
A 25-year employee of Viacom, Einstein joined Showtime from MTV Networks Europe, where he was also prexy and charged with leading global expansion.
The experience served him well as he sought to establish Showtime Arabia as the region's dominant pay platform.
Showtime Arabia claimed to be the first dedicated Western network in the Mideast, when it began broadcasting from London in 1996. In 2004, the network inaugurated its new HQ in Dubai.
For the married father of four, it was the only way forward.
"You can't run a business effectively if you're 3,000 miles away from your customers. For many of those years, I spent most of my life on a plane between Dubai and London," he says.
Born and educated in the U.S., Einstein has an international outlook.
"The ability to learn and understand the local culture is critical. You have to learn and understand there's no homogenous culture," he says.
Not that moving from the West to the Mideast was easy, with local sensibilities and practices needed to be taken into account.
The company has made a concerted effort to appeal to Arab and ex-pat auds in the region, offering services such as a dedicated Arab movie channel and subtitling all films and promos in Arabic.
Fluent in German, the globe-trotting exec has overseen Showtime Arabia's expansion from six channels to 50, as well as a 20% annual rise in subscriptions over the last five years, by offering first-look, largely uncut Western entertainment via its deals with five Hollywood studios.
In 2005, media consultants Booz Allen Hamilton estimated that Showtime had achieved 175,000 subscribers and a 50% revenue share of the pay TV market in the region.
As for the future, opportunities afforded by DVR, a long-mooted IPO as well as the problems posed by rampant copyright infringement and a lingering equivocation over the concept of pay TV in the region lie in wait.
Einstein also plans to expand Showtime Arabia into production, a first for the paybox.
"We've asked ourselves what could we possibly do in Arabic that isn't already freely available. We've identified areas of edgy, made-for-TV programming, like the HBO model, which would not be allowed on free-to-air," says Einstein.
Ironically, the biggest challenge may lie with perceptions back home.
"People find it fascinating when I go back to the States and some consumers still think that people here are riding around on camels, have black and white TV sets and don't watch anything other than bad Arab movies," he quips. "The creative talent out here is really quite impressive. If anyone thinks the only talent exists in the U.S. they should come out here and do a stint with us."
