Strategy Assessment Essay For Authority For Radio And TV In Oman. (70 Characters)

Analysis of the industry and the firm

Describe about the Strategy Assessment for Authority for Radio and TV.

The “Public Authority for Radio and TV (PART)” is an independent legal entity in terms of administration and financial terms. It has the authority to dispose as well as manage own funds (Part.gov.om 2017). The Authority has taken subsequent steps in order to increase the allocated time to TV programme and live radio. The Authority has own dedicated pages in different social media sites such as Twitter, YouTube and Facebook. This is done to provide the viewers with a view to give their opinions regarding various TV and radio programmes in the country (Part.gov.om 2017).

PART works under the Ministry of Information in Oman. The director general of the organization looks after the complete operations of the firm (Part.gov.om 2017). The television and the radio industry is completely government funded in Oman and the advertising functions are strictly prohibited (Dickinson and Gunter 2013). The Omani TV channel has also started the launch of the ‘Oman Cultural Channel” which would represent the cultural treasures of Oman. This also presents artistic heritage of the scholars of Oman and thus consolidates the historical identity of the country (Part.gov.om 2017). This channel has successfully linked the historical identity of the country along with its geography. This cultural channel would present a wide range of programs which concentrate on the folk poetry and various interviews done with the folk poets.

The Public Authority for Radio and TV experiences monopoly in the market of Oman. All the radio and the TC ventures are being controlled by a single public authority (Part.gov.om 2017). In 1970, there was the foundation of the “Radio Sultanate of Oman” as well as “Radio Salalah” (Part.gov.om 2017). During the year 2000, there were approximately 1.4 million radio channels in the country (Kalliny 2014). According to Whitten-Woodring and Van Belle (2014), the outsiders who are interested in accessing the programs of the region would be able to do it by using “Omani satellite channel” on the ARABSAT or they can also access via the internet. The television is equally as the radio in Oman. There are television stations which are operating in Salalah along with 117 television transmitters (Part.gov.om 2017). As opined by Sharma (2014), the local programming process in Oman has huge potential in penetrating in other Arabian states too since the location of the cities or towns does not affect the broadcast signal. There is least competition, except the satellite television signals and the home videos. The Oman TV is considered as the national television channel in the “Sultanate of Oman” (Part.gov.om 2017).

Concepts of Industrial analysis-Media Industry

This report aims to discuss the industrial analysis of media industry in Oman along with different models. It also aims to discuss the business strategy of the selected firm and identification of the possible scenario relating to media industry.

The market share of the media industry of Oman is approximately 30%, which reflects the views of the audience (Khalil 2014). There have been significant changes in the media industry of Oman. There have been considerable changes in the technological as well as structural framework of the media sector. The transformations have enabled the consumer’s greater access to the communications as well as media services (Khalil 2014). The PART ensures that there is widespread broadcasting of the radio and the television content. This is important for the purpose of economic benefits. The television as well as radio broadcasting is considered as the primary source of information for the less knowledgeable section of the society. The media becomes an important tool during the times of emergencies (Samuel and Sarprasatha 2016).

As commented by Palanissamy (2014), the convergence of the technology as well as digital media is going to dominate the global media industry in the recent future. In Oman, most of the media is expected to be digital in the coming years. The media landscape of Oman would undergo a rapid transformation and this would be centered on the digital media. This transformation would bring a change in the dynamics of the different media channels such as radio, television, magazines (Khalil 2014). The progressive media entities are shifting their focus towards the advertising so that they can better promote their contents across the target audience. At present, the county has almost 3.21 active ‘social media’ users who regularly use the internet for connecting with the media (Omaninfo.om 2017). This figure is expected to rise in the future with a penetration rate of approximately 70 percent (Omaninfo.om 2017).

The five forces analysis by Porter’s is used to determine the attractiveness of the media industry and how the trends of the industry affect the individual firms. There are three factors that are used to determine attractiveness of PART organization in Oman.

Threat of New Competition

According to Simon Goldberg and Adini (2015), there are moderate entry barriers for the media industries of Oman. There is growing number of reduction of the entry barriers in the media markets of the country. There is also a spectacular decrease in the effectiveness of the economies of scale. There is high industry profitability and high capital requirement for sustaining media industry.

Porter’s Five Forces for Media Industry

Threat of Substitutes

As opined by Straubhaar LaRose and Davenport (2013), the threat of substitution is affected regarded as the ability of the customers in finding a different product or service similar to the base company. The threat of substitutes of the media firm has medium internet penetration and medium mobile usage.

Bargaining Power of Customers

According to Sakr et al. (2015), the customers in Oman can switch between multiple TV channels. They can also opt to listen to different radio stations. This enforces the channel administration to produce interesting content. The customers also have low access to the world media and hence they depend on the media provided in the country. There is medium penetration of the mobile and internet in the country.

Bargaining Power of Suppliers

The bargaining power of the suppliers is concerned with the ease of the suppliers to manipulate the prices of the key products or services. As commented by Hao and Song (2016), there is low power of the suppliers as well as low capability of the content providers in the media sector of Oman.

Competitive Rivalry

There is high competition in the media industry of Oman. There is medium level of diversified and as well as influential rivals in the media and radio channels (Khalil 2014). Though there is monopoly of PART in the Oman market, however, there is a high level of internal competition.  

As opined by Sangeetha (2015), the internal strategic analysis of a firm can be defined as the process of evaluation and identification of the specific characteristics of the organization. These include capabilities, resources, core competencies and others. A SWOT analysis would help to understand the internal strategic position of the media firm.

The strengths, weakness, opportunities and threat of the media industry in Oman is discussed as under-

Strengths

There is considerable volume of customers who are opting for the services of the media industry in Oman (Khalil 2014). PART is the sole authority that controls the channels of TV and radio in Oman. The authority faces negligible competition from its peers as it has a market monopoly.

Weakness

The Authority caters to a wide range of audience who needs different content as per their choices and preferences. The Authority is unable to cater to these ever-increasing demands of the customers due to limited infrastructure and resources (Part.gov.om 2017). It has bloating workforce as well as narrowing base of audiences who prefer indigenous content. The modern audiences are more inclined to international content

Concepts of Industrial strategic analysis-Media Industry

Opportunities

There are huge opportunities for the media industry to adopt broadcasting through internet and social media (Croteau and Hoynes 2013). The youth population in Oman has shown an increasingly level of interest in the social media networking and the various media that can be accessed with the help of these innovative tools. The Public Authority can have separate content or channels for broadcasting them through innovative channels such as social media network (Part.gov.om 2017).

Threat

The increasing demand for the international media poses threat for the nationalized authority for television and radio in Oman (Croteau and Hoynes 2013). There can be issues of disruptive technologies and the authority may not be able to deal with the user-generated content in the various internet sources such as YouTube (Cummings and Worley 2014).

According to Keane and Donald (2014), the broadcast media has been affected greatly after the increasing popularity of the internet content. The traditional aspect of the television viewership is challenged by the advent of home video and latest technological inventions. The various websites such as YouTube, Hulu give the users the freedom to watch their favorite content at any point of time, as per their convenience. The devices such as TiVo allow the audiences to view their favorite TV shows at their own time and they are also able to skip any unnecessary commercials that they do not like (Croteau and Hoynes 2013). PART in Oman has their corporate structures in such a way that they ensure maximum interaction with the advertisers. Jenkins Ford and Green (2013) agrees that there is a need of the media companies to explore beyond the small screen and provide value based services to the local customers. There is a need of the media companies to develop a viable model of the corporate strategy for capturing the new generation of customers. The media sector is opting for the sale of sponsorships or the commercial slot to the internet programming available (Croteau and Hoynes 2013). This process is similar to the booking of the slots in the traditional broadcasting medium. There is greater emphasis on the “location based” searches and the increased placements of the products. PART engages in multi-platform selling of the content and it should be also active in the mobile platforms.

As opined by Nesamoney (2015), the advertisers are spending more on the digital and database based marketing. The advertisers are focusing on the event marketing, loyalty programs and place-based marketing. The media industry is increasingly focusing on innovation and return on investments as they implement new advertising solution. There is an also new business which revolves around lead generation, marketing services and the custom media. The technology shifts are also affecting the value of the television content and the distribution pattern of the content. There is a changed perception of the consumers towards the television and radio media (Agnihotri et al. 2016). They look for control and interactivity of these contents and not just enjoy video or listen to the radio. It is important for the authorities to implement robust digital toolkit for making the premium inventory. The goal of the media industry is to create long term relationships with the customers so that there is greater TRP (Television Rating Points) of their products (Agnihotri et al. 2016). Earlier, the content creation was more a human process but off late, there has been blending of technology with the creation of effective content. This has the potential to drive more success in terms of editorial or advertising.

SWOT analysis

The Public Authority for Radio and TV aims to create engaging content for their audiences. Their business strategy is aimed at the creation of informative content for capturing more number of audiences. The Authority believes in the fact that the recruitment of talented persons in the editing and reporting jobs is essential to gain long term success of the sector (Sundarapandiyan and Babu 2016). The authority is also engaged in the identification of the “cross-category” growth opportunities which would make the television and radio gain broader audience. The future of media industry in Oman involves blending of technological aspects in their daily functioning (Sundarapandiyan and Babu 2016). There is also the possibility of sponsorships as well as branded entertainment in the media sector, which can be developed through the process of human ideation and conversation. PART has dedicated unit for the purpose of receiving complaints or any suggestions for the viewers (Part.gov.om 2017). This gives the viewers sufficient freedom to share their grievances (if any). The Authority usually takes around one month to process all the pending requests, which implies that the turnaround time of the consumers is less. The Authority has also the provision to sponsor programs through the medium of “Sultanate of Oman TV” (Part.gov.om 2017). The local as well as international corporations are able to sponsor the “Oman TV” programs, either for commercial process or awareness purposes (Part.gov.om 2017). PART has dedicated websites for different domains such as Oman TV, Oman Sports, Oman Radio, Quran Radio and Al Shabab Radio (Part.gov.om 2017).

The most appropriate corporate strategy for the firm includes the focus on the technology part of their broadcasting process. The aspect of technology is important for the authority since it would help the channels to propagate more among the masses in a limited time frame. The most appropriate business strategy would be the generation of more relevant content which would gain maximum attention from the masses. The Authority can also engage in market research in order to decide which contents to air in the prime-time slot in television as well as radio.

The corporate strategy as well as the business strategy of the firm needs to be evaluated based on Strategic Assessment Model (SAM). This model breaks down the strategy into several components in which the factors, alternatives and probabilities can be assessed well (Adrian et al. 2016). The corporate strategy of the implementation of technology in all levels of the organization is segregated into several parts such as current stage of technology adoption, involvement of more technology in the field of distribution of media and the level of human resources who are familiar with the technology process (Adrian et al. 2016). This process of the segregation of the corporate strategy is not aimed for replacing decision makers, however, it gives systematic approach to ensure that there is internal consistency in the process (Österle 2013). The business strategy of creating more relevant content is divided into further subsections such as creation of strong media types, rich media content, use of HTML5 technology and others (Adrian et al. 2016). The SAM model divides the decision-making environment into three main parts-

Internal environment- This would define the set of important factors which would be forming the basis of the internal operations of the organization. This would involve the availability of the raw materials which would be needed for the implementation of the corporate strategy as well as the business strategy (Österle 2013). There would be certain things which would be required to implement rich content in the media channels as well as increase the intervention of technology.

Task environment- These factors would be directly involved with the organization and the implementation of the strategy is closely related with the organization (Sundarapandiyan and Babu 2016). It is important to blend the business as well as corporate strategy into the broad aspects of the organization.

General environment-This includes the different relevant factors which have considerable influence on the organization. It is important to check the attitude of the employees towards both the corporate strategy as well as business strategy (Österle 2013). Any kind of resistance from the employees should be addressed in a proper manner. This is important for the success of the organization as a whole.

It is important to generate strategy alternatives for any potential means in which the objectives are being fulfilled. There should be the presence of interconnection between the two kinds of strategy such as understanding the role of technology in the creation of rich content (Sundarapandiyan and Babu 2016). It is also important to assess relevant opportunities and threats which would come with the implementation of business strategies.

The more adoption of technology and the greater generation of rich content is the best strategy for PART because the technology plays an important role in the success of the media industry. In this modern age, the broadcasting agencies are implementing high end technology services in order to reach more number of audiences. In Oman, there has been fundamental shift of media landscape (Al-Badi 2014). In the last few years, there has been shift from the conventional media to social media and more number of people prefer to communicate on social media channels. The media houses in Oman have been pressurized for upgrading to latest technology so that they can keep pace with the “tech-savvy” youth of the country (Al-Badi 2014). Hence, it is important to implement technological framework in the selected firm. The content on the technological platforms as well as conventional platforms needs to maintain excellent standards in order to be popular.

It is recommended that the Authority should implement a high level of automation in their organization. The following measures needs to be implemented-

• It is important to plan the technological change from advance and achieving employee acceptance is important.
• Installation of the new technology platform for media businesses should be done by specialist.
• More social media presence of the firm should be made in which there would be interaction with the audiences.
• Engage content expert who would be responsible for the creation of value added content for television and radio.
• It is important to formulate content specific for the target audience, for which it is important to perform prior market research.

The critical analysis of the report showed that the Oman’s media landscape is undergoing a massive transformation and there has been more adoption of the technological innovation. The research shows the success of the PART would be a combined result from the implementation of technology and the development of rich content. The recommendations have been provided from the practical aspects of the corporate and business strategies. This report is expected to broaden the subject knowledge to a great extent.

References

Adrian, C., Abdullah, R., Atan, R. and Jusoh, Y.Y., 2016. Towards Developing Strategic Assessment Model for Big Data Implementation: A Systematic Literature Review. Int. J. Advance Soft Compu. Appl, 8(3).

Agnihotri, R., Dingus, R., Hu, M.Y. and Krush, M.T., 2016. Social media: Influencing customer satisfaction in B2B sales. Industrial Marketing Management, 53, pp.172-180.

Al-Badi, A.H., 2014. The adoption of social media in government agencies: Gulf Cooperation Council case study. Journal of Technology Research, 5, p.1.

Croteau, D. and Hoynes, W., 2013. Media/society: Industries, images, and audiences. Sage Publications.

Cummings, T.G. and Worley, C.G., 2014. Organization development and change. Cengage learning.

Dickinson, R. and Gunter, B., 2013. What Is the Future for News in the Arab World?. News Media in the Arab World: A Study of 10 Arab and Muslim Countries, p.173.

Hao, S. and Song, M., 2016. Technology-driven strategy and firm performance: Are strategic capabilities missing links?. Journal of Business Research, 69(2), pp.751-759.

Jenkins, H., Ford, S. and Green, J., 2013. Spreadable media: Creating value and meaning in a networked culture. NYU press.

Kalliny, M., 2014. Advertising Trends in the Arab World: A Status Report. Journal of Current Issues & Research in Advertising, 35(1), pp.86-106.

Keane, M. and Donald, S.H., 2014. Convergence, content industries and media governance. Media in China: Consumption, Content and Crisis (London and New York: Routledge, 2014), pp.200-211.

Khalil, J.F., 2014. News Television in the Arabian Gulf... Period of Transitions. Global Media Journal, 2006.

Nesamoney, D., 2015. Personalized digital advertising: How data and technology are transforming how we market. FT Press.

Omaninfo.om. 2017.  [online] Available at: https://omaninfo.om [Accessed 18 Mar. 2017].

Österle, H., 2013. Business in the information age: heading for new processes. Springer Science & Business Media.

Palanissamy, A., 2014. Investor-relations-integrating social media into board–Oman perspective. European Journal of Business and Management, 6(24), pp.108-113.

Part.gov.om. 2017. Home - PART. [online] Available at: https://part.gov.om [Accessed 18 Mar. 2017].

Sakr, N., Skovgaard-Petersen, J. and Della Ratta, D. eds., 2015. Arab media moguls. IB Tauris.

Samuel, B.S. and Sarprasatha, J., 2016. Entrepreneurship in Social-Media Services in Oman–A Socio-Economic Scanning of the Sultanate. Asian Social Science, 12(4), p.138.

Sangeetha, J., 2015. Development of a service quality scale for multiple technology interfaces in commercial banking. The Journal of Internet Banking and Commerce, 2012.

Sharma, S.K., 2014. Critical Media Analysis' A Comparative Study of Print Media in Oman and UAE'. Global Media Journal, 2009.

Simon, T., Goldberg, A. and Adini, B., 2015. Socializing in emergencies—A review of the use of social media in emergency situations. International Journal of Information Management, 35(5), pp.609-619.

Straubhaar, J., LaRose, R. and Davenport, L., 2013. Media now: Understanding media, culture, and technology. Cengage Learning.

Sundarapandiyan, N. and Babu, S., 2016. A Study on Talent Management Practices of ICT Sector in India With Reference to Talent Acquisition. Indian Journal of Applied Research, 6(3).

Whitten-Woodring, J. and Van Belle, D.A., 2014. Historical Guide to World Media Freedom: A Country-by-Country Analysis. CQ Press.