CAIRO: The new Cairo-based 25 TV channel has launched this week with its inaugural program filmed on location in Mahalla during the third anniversary of the April 6 labor strike.
Hoping to be a leader in the growing space for media in Egypt, 25 TV’s Director Mohamed Youssry is orchestrating the fast-paced work of about 35 employees. The staff is almost all in their 20s and early 30s making the 34-year-old Youssry one of the oldest.
What they might lack in aged-experience the new channel makes up for with enthusiasm. “We’re a forward looking organization and our vision is to be a force of positive development in Egypt,” Youssry said. “We’re targeting everyone in Egypt who is an agent of change.”
Part of that vision is the production of a new kind of program in which the work of amateur videographers from all over Egypt will be aired on a program called Hashtag, named after the popular social media site Twitter’s keyword tagging function.
25 TV also has a studio in downtown Cairo where they’ve created a set for revolutionary musicians found playing in Tahrir Square and other places to come perform on camera before a live-audience. The program is called “El Bastal” and has a similar feel of MTV’s Unplugged. The first taping on April 9 featured a young man singing about democracy and freedom while he played an acoustic guitar.
“None of our programs will be conventional, we won’t work with celebrities or use the old formats like talk shows. Our focus will be on filming content outdoors in the streets with the people,” Youssry told Daily News Egypt.
The company’s CEO is Mohamed Gohar, a veteran of Egypt’s media world and owner of Video Cairo which is the parent corporation and financial sponsor of 25 TV. The channel went from concept to production to broadcasting in less than two months, a feat that would have been impossible without Video Cairo’s support.
25 TV itself is completely free of government funding and its staff says they will only use professional journalistic ethics. When questioned about fear of governmental oversight Youssry responded, “We‘re not afraid, if someone tries to censor us we’ll deal with it but we are presenting an even, unbiased report of the facts on the ground. The time for towing the line is over. Today we covered this morning’s events in Tahrir Square and reported the incident from a variety of perspectives without adopting a pro or anti narrative.”
At present 25 TV hasn’t incorporated advertising in its operations but management is drafting an advertising policy to make the business model sustainable however the company isn’t going to launch a large promotional campaign in the traditional sense. Rather, they’re using word of mouth and a strong online social-networking team to build an audience.
25 TV’s programs are in Arabic language and distributed on Nile Sat (10911 vertical 27500 Mhz) or streamed programs online at http://25online.tv Twitter users can also follow the channel @25TVeg
