Need not have worried

By the time I hit the beaches of southern France the heatwave was over. But it was great to be back where, I continue to believe, I belong.

The goal remains, in minimalist configuration, a studio flat in Montpellier with a massively fat broadband pipe and a reliable ISP. However with the cost of living in the Sandlands going through the roof, earning enough to make such a move feasible looks increasingly problematic.

Funny how impressed people are in Europe when I say I have management responsibilities for two free-to-air satellite television channels. In an article in today's issue of Campaign Middle East, Peter Einstein, CEO of cable operator ShowtimeArabia makes a couple of good points.

...there is no rationale behind the existence of 200 free-to-air channels [covering the Middle East].

"I'm not aware that any of them are making money," he says. "So why are they there? Basically because there are a lot of wealthy people who like to spend their money on TV channels and don't really care if they lose a lot of money. Media is a very sexy industry, or TV is a very sexy industry, so most of the channels that exist are there fore vanity."

So does he believe there will be a consolidation.

"Only if people are interested in getting serious about their bottom line."

And there's the rub!