City7 aims to make 90% of TV shows locally

The channel that caters to the English speaking local and expat population in the region will now stress on in-house production.

A top official of City7 TV says it will move to achieve almost 90 per cent of self produced programmes in the next six months.

"Our objective is to produce and broadcast local programmes to our viewers who wish to know about events and happenings in the neighbourhood," says Ron Kapadia, Executive Director and Chief Operating Officer of the TV channel.

As a first step, City7 will make efforts to increase its in-house production to almost 12 hours. And this is expected to happen soon after Ramadan.

He wants to stay away from what he calls the "standard formula" of acquiring software from abroad and running it on the channel.

"Our strength is local programmes, produced for local consumption and we intend to strengthen this area," Kapadia says. To help him create this is a staff count of almost 120.

Kapadia believes the channel operates on the principle of "for the people, by the people" – one that provides all the essential information and entertainment to its target audience.

"This was clearly the dictum of the earlier managements, but for some unfortunate reasons [the channel] could not deliver," he says.

His confidence stems from more than 20 years of experience in the field, where he has been responsible for some of the most successful channels in the region, including Sony and CNBC-TV18 in India.

In Dubai, he headed Zee TV's Middle East operations. Earlier, he was part of the team that launched the first Asian DTH package Pehla, owned by the ART TV Network. Pehla delivers Asian and Arabic products across the Middle East and North Africa.

For Kapadia, joining City7 happened on a "sudden note" when he met Mohi-Din Binhendi, the Chairman of Bin Hendi Enterprises. "He narrated his vision of making this TV station the showcase for the UAE and develop it as an essential channel for every resident to watch for all their entertainment and information needs," says Kapadia.

With that objective, the channel has hired a long list of professionals in their creative team and are at present producing six to eight hours of locally-produced programmes. These include lifestyle programmes catering to women. A daily dose of TV magazine called City Women covers a mix of stories, lifestyle features, and studio interviews with inspirational women – all from a female perspective. Other programmes include the Good Morning Dubai breakfast show, news, Inside Business, That Women's Show, programmes for children and Drive Dubai.

Programming for a place such as Dubai throws up challenges that are special to the region. "With diversity in cultures, languages and social habits, it becomes very difficult to define the profile of your viewer and customise to their needs and tastes," says Kapadia underlining the challenges that his creative team faces.

The way out, he believes, is to hire people from different backgrounds. The channel has 23 nationalities working under the same roof. The bigger problem, though, according to Kapadia, was the lack of motivation in the team.

"To re-motivate a team, which is capable but not utilised to the best of its abilities, is not an easy job and I had to take charge and induce confidence and motivation to turn this into a respected channel," he says.

Defining the competition, Kapadia concedes that Dubai One, run by the Dubai Government, could reasonably be called "close enough" to have the same footprint. But he insists that considering the extent of self-produced programmes created by City7 TV, there's no direct competition on the horizon. "At least none for now," he says.

He is certain that the investment being made now will be recovered in less than three years.

Local flavour

Some of the locally-produced programmes by City7 TV include:

- Inside Business: A daily show on business and financial news. Includes interviews with leading CEO's, entrepreneurs and financial analysts.

- Face To Face: The channel's latest hard-hitting talk show presented by John Deykins, who takes on his guests to deliver insights into their personalities and lifestyles.

- In Gear: A TV show about cars and the people who drive them.

- City Women: A daily half-hour TV magazine studio-based show made by women and for women.

- Chefs In The City: A daily cookery show that demonstrates quick, easy and healthy cooking. Presented by master chefs from some of the UAE's top hotels.

- Smart Shopping: A show that brings information on how, when and where to shop.

- Kids Club: The award-winning singer-songwriter Kristy Gentz hosts this programme, which includes a collection of original features, as well as classical cartoons and internationally-acclaimed children's programming.

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