The new landscape and how the sector's leaders view the media's future in Cyprus

The heads of the country's largest meida groups spoke about the future of the Media in Cyprus, at the 20th Marketing, Advertising and Communication Conference, where together with people from the field of advertising they shared their opinions on the future of traditional media.

Organised by IMH, the 20th Marketing, Advertising and Communication Conference is taking place in Nicosia on 30 June. The event is sponsored by ImarComms, NetU, Red Wolf, and Webarts.

George Michail, CEO, IMH welcomed the participants and, opening the series of presentations, asked the panelists what they believed the future of the media in Cyprus would be. "I think the media in Cyprus are making great efforts and investments to modernise and use new technologies. The term 'traditional' disappears and they become simply media," he suggested.

Myrto Markidou, CEO / Publisher, of Phileleftheros Media Group, in her first statement mentioned that traditional media can also play a very important role in the advertising sector of Cyprus.

She emphasised that there is still a long way to go to adjust consumption habits, information and advertising. “It's important to understand that 18-24 year olds are not our buyers. We cannot insist that this category is the only one, Markidou commented.

Markidou said that "the websites are extensions of the traditional print media and were transformed in the digital era, and they can be taken into account."

Chrysanthos Tsouroullis, CEO, Sigma TV / DIAS Media Group, spoke about his own concerns involving the media field in Cyprus saying that "by choice, we are not ready to say goodbye to traditional media . While we are investing in new media, we are also investing in traditional media."

He commented that everything in life is an experience and that television is an experience. "I'm a big believer in conventional television. Even while young people, being informed by Facebook, are consuming something produced on television," he said.

He was in favour of cooperation between the media and advertising agencies. “All means have overcome the 'diseases' of big names and 'I'. They are businesses that have income and expenses. This forces us to make the right decisions," he emphasised.

Stelios Malekos, Managing Director, Antenna Ltd , on his part, referred to the advent of the internet and how it used to overshadow traditional television. "But we are here discussing the future of television, so it is not gone," he emphasised.

He also said that young people watch TV, on different devices and so "TV at the end of the day is a means of content production". In his closing comment he said that "we have stopped being creators and are data scientists".

Theo Middleton, Executive Chairman, Digital Tree Group gave his own perspective and mentioned that there is horizontal interaction, which takes place more abroad but also in Cyprus.

“To me there are three types of content-audio, visual and written. And we have to produce from everything", he said, and added that there are no traditional and new media. "We are all heading towards the point where everything comes together," he stressed.

When asked how the relationship between the media and advertising agencies is evolving, he said that "this relationship from transactional is becoming more cooperative and more intelligent products are being developed. This will continue to evolve." In his closing comment, he referred to the issue of metrics and emphasised that in the future there will be several mergers both from the media and from the advertising side.

Petros Petrou, CEO, Alpha Cyprus , said that technology has brought a huge evolution, but “the basis of content production remains the same. There are tools at hand and the big bet is how you use them. I don't want to see it as a problem that traditional media is coming to an end. We have to adapt." In conclusion, he said that everyone has an obligation to cooperate more.

"I think that we should not underestimate the work done in the Cypriot media and advertising. It won't be long before we see Cypriot work on Netflix. We have to work properly for this market to have a future."
(InBusinessNews)