The downward spiral of the global economy may hit advertisers who are expected to spend only $20 billion within the next five years in the Pan-Arab ad market, as opposed to a whopping $10 billion in 2008, according Sami Rafool of PARC Media Research Company. He was speaking at the first symposium on media research in Saudi Arabia here Wednesday. Iyad Bin Amin Madani, Minister of Culture and Information, graced the symposium dubbed “Challenges and Ambitions Towards Future Development,” which was organized by Okaz Organization for Press and Publication and sponsored by the Ministry of Culture and Information at Okaz headquarters here on Wednesday. Saudi Arabian media outlets will receive a big chuck of that budget, especially print media. Total advertising revenues for media outlets in Saudi Arabia topped $1.039 billion in 2008, 76 percent of which went to the print media and 8 percent to TV – quite contrary to global trends. Five working papers on the trends of media and advertisement research in the Arab World were presented. For the papers, there were currently large discrepancies in media and advertisement research findings, prompting heated Q&A on reliable research studies on selecting the right media outlet for ad campaigns. In his speech, Iyad Madani urged the media organizations in the Kingdom to come up with their own verified and reliable studies on their viewership and readership, calling for application of international standards for the Saudi ad market. Well-grounded scientific media studies are the real indicators to what the ad market needs or how it should be managed in the Kingdom, the minister said. Abdullah Al-Jasser, Deputy Minister of Information and Culture, said there is a need for an integration between advertising agencies and media outlets, through a suggested national society of advertisers, to boost the mechanism of a well-defined ad market in the Kingdom. Muhammad Abu Dawood, a participant, said that the measures of market reach have not been developed for the last 10 years to cope with the ever-increasing audience. The people meter, a tool used to measure habits of TV audience, was introduced in the Kingdom some 25 years ago to target the right audience at the right time with ads, but it has never been used yet. Abu Dawood's comment was hit back by Abdullah Al-Jasser, saying “There is no reservation regarding the use of the people meter technique in the Kingdom, but we are afraid that it could be manipulated, used, or funded by some foreign companies for unethical purposes and that is unacceptable.” “We need to make sure that whatever statistics brought by any research method is true and accurate. We have to protect other media outlets and the audience. The public opinion can't be measured by a foreign party,” Al
