Establishing a new age of family TV entertainment as Saudi Football League returns to Arabsat
Arabsat commits to protecting viewers from pirated content
MBC PRO SPORTS channels resume broadcast on “Arabsat” with Saudi Super Cup between Al Ahli and Al Hilal
Riyadh, Dubai, 1st August 2016: MBC Group channels announced the transition of its gulf channels and MBC Pro Sports Channels to “Arabsat” through a strategic partnership signed with “Arabsat” today. The cooperation aims to establish a new era of family TV entertainment reinforcing high quality viewership. While the transition of some channels will be exclusive to “Arabsat”, the next stages will focus on providing sophisticated reliable receivers, enabling viewers to experience the best in modern TV.
Khalid Bin Ahmed Balkheyour, “Arabsat” CEO stated: “We are pleased with this partnership between Arabsat and MBC Group; it is proof that the media industry is progressing in the right direction”. Balkheyour reiterated the benefits of this collaboration: “Most important is the protection of Intellectual Property Rights in the region through our commitment to prohibiting any channel from broadcasting pirated content, and so ultimately protecting and serving the Arab viewers’ interest”.
“Arabsat” initiated new HD technology several years ago in collaboration with Arab States Broadcasting Union (ASBU) with the aim of improving the HD quality and growing it in the Arab world.
Sam Barnett, MBC Group CEO said: “We are delighted to be partnering with Arabsat and progressively, we will be moving our Gulf focused channels exclusively onto Arabsat.” Barnett added “Arabsat enjoys high viewership in general and in the GCC in particular and we’re sure that the addition of more exclusive MBC channels will boost Arabsat’s penetration further”.
Most immediately this partnership sees the return of the Saudi Football League to Arabsat. MBC PRO SPORTS will broadcast on Arabsat as of Monday 8th August during the Live broadcast of the Saudi Super Cup between Al Ahli and Al Hilal taking place in London.
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About MBC Group
MBC Group (Middle East Broadcasting Center) is the largest and leading private media company in the Middle East & North Africa region. For the past 25 years, MBC Group was able to enrich people’s lives through information, interaction and entertainment. In 2002, nearly a decade after the launch of MBC1 in London, back in 1991, and as the 1st private free-to-air Arab satellite TV channel, MBC Group moved its headquarters to Dubai Media City, United Arab Emirates, where it remains.
Today, MBC Group includes 20 TV channels: MBC1 (general family entertainment); MBC2 and MBC MAX (24-hour western movies); MBC3 (children’s edutainment with a mix of both local productions and western acquisitions); MBC4 (entertainment for young families with a female-focus); MBC Action (an indigenous adrenaline-packed channel targeting young males with local and homegrown productions); MBC Variety (Western films and general entertainment with uninterrupted broadcasting); Al Arabiya News Channel (the 24-hour Arabic language news channel); Al Hadath (an extension of Al Arabiya News Channel with a specific focus on real events in the Arab world and beyond); Wanasah (24-hour Arabic music channel); MBC DRAMA (24/7 Arabic drama); MBC MASR (general family entertainment geared towards the Egyptian family); MBC MASR 2 (providing the Egyptian audience with superior quality entertainment); MBC + Drama (a joint paid-for channel between MBC and OSN); MBC Bollywood (delivering the freshest in Bollywood content geared towards the region via an Arabized interface); and most recently four sports channels, MBC PRO SPORTS (geared towards the “Saudi Football Premier League” fans in the Kingdom); and MBC USA (the channel is present on “Dish Network” in the US, and targets Arab audiences aboard; the channel is dedicated to offer and broadcast a wide range of content from the prominent MBC channels including movies, series and global formats).
In July 2011, seven channels within MBC Group began to broadcast in HD across the MENA Region: MBC1 HD, MBC2 HD, MBC4 HD, MBC Action HD, MBC Drama HD, MBC Max HD and Al Arabiya HD. In 2013, MBC3 HD joined the collection of HD channels followed by MBC Variety HD in 2014.
MBC Group also includes two FM radio stations: MBC FM (Gulf music) and Panorama FM (contemporary Arabic hit music); as well as O3 Productions, a premium content drama production company. Furthermore, MBC Group includes online platforms: www.mbc.net, www.alarabiya.net, www.shahid.net (the first free VOD and catch-up portal in the Arab world) and www.actionha.net, and www.mbcprosports.net among others.
MBC Group also includes two FM radio stations: MBC FM (Gulf music) and Panorama FM (contemporary Arabic hit music); as well as O3 Productions, a premium content drama production company. Furthermore, MBC Group includes online platforms: www.mbc.net, www.alarabiya.net, www.shahid.net (the first free VOD and catch-up portal in the Arab world) and www.actionha.net, and www.mbcprosports.net among others.
About “Arabsat”
For further information, contact:
Ruba Al Ayed
MBC Group
Sr. Group PR Manager
Email: ruba.alayed@mbc.net
Website: www.mbc.net
Saad Al Tehaif
Arabsat
Director, Public Relations & Media
Email: Saadt@arabsat.com
Website: www.arbsat.com
