Egyptian Ramadan Ads Estimated to be Worth 500 Million EGP

With Ramadan beginning, the battle for viewers' attention and advertising revenue has officially started as popular channels in Egypt compete against each other in a sea of fragmented audiences.

At an estimated 500 million Egyptian pounds ($65 million), channel advertisements for Ramadan are a big business. It represents 30 percent of the year’s advertising volume, an MBC Masr channel official told Daily News Egypt .

The official from MBC Masr, which is broadcasting a very large number of series and programs this Ramadan, said that buying and producing the series and programs cost the channel about 128 million Egyptian pounds. He said that the revenue was expected to reach 175 million Egyptian pounds, which would be the highest for MBC Masr since it began broadcasting in Egypt.

The official added that an advertisement package in the channel cost around 9 million Egyptian pounds, while individual advertisements can reach 65,000 Egyptian pounds for every 30 second.

Sources in Al-Tahrir Channel said the channel's preparation for Ramadan cost 25 million Egyptian pounds, with an estimated 100 percent increase in revenue as they expect to reach 50 million Egyptian pounds, according to Daily News Egypt. They added that the channel had launched one advertisement package at 6 million Egyptian pounds, with 240 broadcast times.

On the other hand, Sada Elbalad TV reportedly launched one package at 5 million Egyptian pounds with 810 broadcast times, while El-Mehwar 1 and 2 and its drama channel launched one advertisement package at 4 million Egyptian pounds, with 180 broadcast spots.

The production of Ramadan series and programs is considered to be a major business in Egypt for both the producers and the TV channels that broadcast them. While watching these series and programs is very popular among Egyptians in Ramadan, it is considered by some to be an unnecessary distraction and a waste of time.

The production cost of more than 50 Egyptian soap operas in 2012 was estimated to cost an astonishing 1.18 billion Egyptian pounds.This year, some are expecting the advertisement volume to surpass the 500 million Egyptian pounds estimate, as there is an increase in the number of series and subsequently an increase in the competition.