Mogul faces final frontier

After expanding his media empire into most far-flung parts of the world, Rupert Murdoch is now turning his attention to the Middle East.

News Corp logo hanging outside their New York headquarters.

Now Rupert Murdoch has only Africa and Antarctica left. If his reported deal to buy 20 per cent of Saudi Arabia's Rotana media group goes ahead, they will be the only two continents where the septuagenarian mogul has failed to spread his brand of professional, populist and profitable media operations.

As he has so far shown little interest in either Africa or investing south of the Antarcic circle, the Middle East probably represents the final frontier of his extraordinary business career. He has taken his time getting here, and the Rotana deal - yet to be clinched with his old friend and shareholder Prince Alwaleed bin Talal - is still just a toe in the water, but Mr Murdoch seems finally to be convinced of the attractions of the Arab world.

There is a lot to suggest that the Middle East holds the kind of promise that has drawn News Corp, his global company, into other emerging markets, from China and India to Brazil. This region's population of 300 million Arabic speakers, 65 per cent of whom are under 30, represents a tantalising market largely untapped by international media companies of News Corp's scale. This market has become especially attractive recently as the Middle East's double-digit advertising spending growth so far this year is on track to vastly outpace the recession-battered US's paltry forecast of 3 per cent.

Hooking up with Rotana, which owns the largest library of Arabic music and film and already has a vast network of multimedia advertising sales throughout the region, seems to be the best possible way to access this market quickly, while at the same time investing in a company that has its own substantial growth potential. In the latest example, Rotana has announced plans to give its Saudi-owned rival, MBC, a run for its money in the lucrative Saudi radio market next year, as Saudi government regulators begin liberalising the country's airwaves.

Media experts also expect News Corp to look beyond its existing ties to Rotana, through its Fox Movies and Fox Series channels, to broader opportunities to capitalise on Rotana's strong content ownership position in the digital realm. The attraction of the Middle East market has been dawning on Mr Murdoch for some time, culminating in the planned investment of the estimated US$250 million (Dh918.2m) to $350m deal with Rotana.

In 2007, News Corp formed a partnership in the region with SAB Media to commercially develop its British newspaper titles, The Times and The Sunday Times, in the region out of its headquarters in Dubai Media City. Later that year, News Corp bought Dow Jones, which in 2006 had formed a partnership with ABQ Zawya to create the subscription-based Middle East news service, Zawya Dow Jones. In January, Star TV, News Corp's Asian broadcaster, added a Farsi channel out of its Dubai office. And in March, Sky News, News Corp's UK-based news channel, opened its second Middle East bureau, after Jerusalem, in Dubai.

One of the most successful of these efforts has been Zawya Dow Jones, whose subscription model went against accepted wisdom when it was founded but today represents the latest thinking on how to make money from online news content. Last month, Mr Murdoch stunned the media world when he announced that all of his news services would be charging for content beginning next year. News Corp sources in the region say this will apply only to developed markets such as the US, UK and Australia in the beginning, but it is still worth noting that one of its successful precedents was born in the Middle East.

But his attempts to extend his empire outside the Anglo-Saxon world have met with mixed success. India has come good for him after big investments but China, for which he held out great hopes after first moving there in the 1990s, has been much more difficult. His bid to expand there - latterly under the stewardship of his son and heir-apparent James ? via the Hong Kong-based Star TV came up against competitive and editorial restrictions imposed by the Chinese authorities. Some media analysts believe a similar media culture, characterised by a protective domestic market and editorial sensitivity on the part of some governments, exists in the Middle East.

News Corp sources in London say the move into the Middle East reflects a gradual liberalisation of some of the basic tenets of the Murdoch philosophy. "James is far less neo-con than this father, far more a man of the world," said a senior executive. Moreover, for an organisation long associated with a right-wing political agenda, and a consistent pro-Israeli line in foreign coverage, the move into the Arab world has already sparked fierce reactions from both sides.

"Arabs see Murdoch as a person who does not respect them, their faith, or heritage," wrote Iqbal Tamimi, a Palestinian journalist and poet writing in Middle East Online. "The majority say that he is gambling with his money if he thinks that the Arabs will forget his far right-wing political news machine, or his pro-Israeli stands, and the way his own Fox News portrays Arabs and Muslims in a negative manner. Many even have already started to call for boycotting Rotana should such investment is to be finalised." Ms Tamimi calls into question whether Mr Murdoch is after Arab markets or Arabs' deep pockets, noting that Prince Alwaleed, who owns Rotana through his investment vehicle, Kingdom Holdings, owns a 7 per cent stake News Corp.

The Jewish lobby in the US has also sounded alarmist reactions to the proposed deal. Right-wing columnist Debbie Schlussel wrote on her blog: "Not only will Alwaleed yield even more control over what's shown on Fox News ? but Murdoch and News Corp will likely take further steps to please their new Saudi patrons." A deal is still some way off, with key elements still unresolved. Whether it will be for cash or shares is still unclear. News Corp sources in London say that it is a "fairly fluid and complicated situation, with a lot up in the air". Most of that uncertainty centres on two factors: Mr Murdoch's traditional distaste for minority shareholdings, particularly as low as 20 per cent; and the question of how they will be paid for. If about $350m buys him 20 per cent of Rotana, that would equate to another 1 per cent to 2 per cent of News Corp, which would give Prince Alwaleed nearly 10 per cent. Does Mr Murdoch really want a stake that big outside his control, even in the hands of long-time family friend, Prince Alwaleed?

But if it goes ahead, there is hope within Rotana that this deal will be as much about Rotana accessing the world, as about the world, represented by News Corp, accessing the Middle East market. As the company signalled by signing a strategic partnership last month with the European satellite radio broadcaster Ondas to enter the European market, Rotana has some Murdochian ambitions of its own. "It's not about technology, it's about experience, worldwide experience," said Firas Khashman, the general manager for emerging businesses at Rotana. "Usually, when you master your region, then you want to go out. I think News Corp will help Rotana do that."

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