Middle East Broadcasting Center
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| Middle East Broadcasting Center | |
|---|---|
| Type | Public |
| Founded | Saudi Arabia, 1990 |
| Headquarters | Dubai, United Arab Emirates |
| Key people | Waleed Ibrahim Al Ibrahim, Chairman |
| Industry | Broadcasting |
| Revenue | ▲$20 million USD |
| Website | www.mbc.net |
The Middle East Broadcasting Center (MBC) is a Saudi-run company broadcasting a mix of free-to-air news and entertainment channels via satellite. It was launched on September 18, 1991 as the Middle East Broadcasting Corporation, initially broadcasting from London in the United Kingdom. Since 2002, its headquarters have been in Dubai Media City, United Arab Emirates.
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[edit] History
On its launch, MBC became the first broadcaster to create a satellite-based free-to-air 24-hour television network across the Arab world. It has remained privately owned, managed by a group of businessmen and shareholders, including chairman and CEO Sheikh Waleed Bin Ibrahim Al Brahim. The shareholder list has never been verified, although it is generally believed that only the Saudi royal family has enough capital to keep the company afloat.[citation needed]
In the past fifteen years or so, MBC has expanded into a multi-channel platform with a growing range of offerings for audiences of very different local cultures. The round-the-clock service has also appealed to the expatriate Arabic-speaking population and attracted high-profile multinational advertisers.[citation needed]
At its launch, MBC offered entertainment programmes that were already popular in the Middle East as well as top-rating shows from Western markets, in particular the United States and United Kingdom. The MBC News at 9:00pm became regularly viewed in the Arabic-speaking world.[citation needed]
MBC's television arm, MBC TV, broadcasts via the Egyptian-owned Nilesat 101/102/103 and Arabsat satellites.
[edit] MBC channels
All of MBC channel are free-to-Air channels and these are the list of the channels :
[edit] MBC 1
Airing Arabic entertainment and hourly news to all over the Arab World.
[edit] MBC 2
Bills itself as the world's first free-to-air and non stop Blockbuster movie channel, showing a wide range of Hollywood movies, some first run and a library of repeat showings. The channel broadcasts all films with their original English soundtrack and Arabic subtitles, gaining a somewhat cult following amongst English speakers in Europe and US troops stationed in the Middle East
[edit] MBC 3
Airs shows for kids such as Even Stevens and Full House and Power Rangers and various cartoons from the Disney Channel such as Timon & Pumbaa and Kim Possible and in the morning a preschool kids show from Playhouse Disney and other cartoons and Japanese anime like Yu-gi-oh! , Transformers, Cyborg 009, Ōban Star-Racers. It also airs American, British or French shows like A.T.O.M., Jackie Chan Adventures, Dragon Hunters, TMNT, The Secret Show as well as a film for each weekend. Some cartoons are shown with Arabic subtitles while others are dubbed. All live action shows are subtitled.
[edit] MBC 4
Offers a broad mixture of shows such as Super Nanny, Rachael Ray, US & UK comedy and drama series, news and current affairs programming from the US networks ABC & CBS plus gameshows Jeopardy! and Wheel of Fortune and magazines like The Insider & Inside Edition. One of the channel's most popular programmes is the talk show The Oprah Winfrey Show and soap operas such as Days of Our Lives.
[edit] Al Arabiya
Is a 24 hour Arabic News Channel. It is believed that this channel - which is supported by the Saudi government - was established to broadcast as a news channel to compete Al Jazeera.[citation needed]
[edit] MBC Action
is a free-to-air channel that shows movies and television series from the action genre. Programs are subtitled in Arabic. MBC Action's biggest coups are the TV series Lost, Prison Break, The 4400, and more ... All free 24 hours non stop action
[edit] NEWS CORPORATION'S LAUNCH FOX MOVIES ALONG SIDE MBC2
Rupert Murdoch's News Corporation have launched a currently free to air Fox Movies free 24 hour movie channel on May 1st 2008, a potential direct competitor to the MBC2 free movie channel and a free drama channel may be planned. Fox Movies is broadcasting on the Arabsat (now known as Badr) at 26e or 26.2e and 7w on Nilesat along side all the MBC channels. The channels are a joint venture with News Corp and Saudi Billionare Prince Alwaleed bin Talal and dealt with by James Murdoch. They are claimed to be funded by advertising like MBC with News Corp ultimately owning the channels and the risks and revenues being shared between News Corp and Prince Alwaleed bin Talal who owns 5% of News Corp and has helped the Murdochs in the past. Only time will tell how MBC respond to this. Both free movie channels and a host of other English channels can be received in the UK with simple satellite equipment now readily available and costing less that a SKY UK receiver box and potentially creating a competition to the UK based SKY Movie channels transmitted encrypted on the adjacent satellite at 28.2e just 2 degrees to the East of 26e. Only time will tell as to what happens in the future but going on News Corps history & reputation elsewhere in the world, it's unlikely that there isn't far more to this unusual move by News Corp.
[edit] External links
[edit] Channels websites
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