Al-Madina newspaper

THE emergence of online newspapers on the one hand and 24-hour satellite news channels on the other caused a considerable drain in the revenues of print media organizations.

The debate had been whether people would continue to read newspapers and printed books or whether they would turn exclusively to e-newspapers and e-books in the future. And if they still read printed books and newspapers despite having satellite channels that bring live news and other programs direct to their living rooms, the question that arose was how much space each would occupy.

These issues were at the center of long discussions as many changes were happening in news production, which has now been depending more on modern technology and innovation than the traditional editorial tools.

The crisis that affected the print media has deepened further and hit television channels as well. News channels suffer from low revenues and an increase in the costs of administration, production and broadcasting.

With the rising popularity of social media, television channels are losing their relevance in the same way the emergence of satellite television eroded the social reach and significance of newspapers, threatening their very existence some decades ago.

International media companies have confirmed a huge drop in the incomes of many TV channels in an unprecedented manner.

Many reports show that the viewership of TV channels has decreased in general and across the board. The chief executive officer of Time Warner, which owns cable networks like CNN and HBO, has stated that TV is going through a big transformation. TV programs are produced and consumed according to requests of viewers, which led many companies to make online promotional offers.

Amid the controversy surrounding the criteria of viewership ratings, experts believe that with the huge drop in the number of viewers, the TV channels risk losing $70 billion, and the media companies are worried about their ability to confront this challenge.

This crisis faced by traditional TV channels has created a new opportunity for them to work with the telecom companies by changing the way they transmit their programs.

To keep pace with the latest changes, they must rethink their traditional approach, cater to the needs of the new generation and come up with more modern and innovative programs to retain their position in the market.