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Al Jazeera<\/a><\/strong>\u00a0turned into a powerhouse name that nearly everyone knows today; some also know\u00a0Al Arabiya<\/strong>—But how about the\u00a0MBC<\/strong>, a.k.a. The Middle East Broadcasting Center<\/strong>, does it ring a bell?<\/p>\n No, it is not yet another Arabic-language Satellite channel<\/a><\/strong> that just got off the ground…<\/p>\n In fact, just last year, the\u00a0MBC group<\/strong>\u00a0celebrated its\u00a020th anniversary.<\/strong><\/p>\n \u2666\u00a0Who owns MBC today?<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n Today, MBC is equally shared between\u00a0Abdulaziz bin Fahd<\/strong>, the favorite son of the late Saudi King\u00a0Fahd<\/strong>,\u00a0and his maternal uncle.<\/p>\n \u2666\u00a0How was MBC founded?<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n One of the main driving forces behind the creation of MBC in the early\u00a01990s<\/strong> is the well-known Saudi businessman\u00a0\u0635\u0640\u0640\u0640\u0627\u0644\u062d \u0643\u0640\u0640\u0640\u0640\u0640\u0627\u0645\u0644<\/strong> (Salah Kamel<\/strong>),\u00a0<\/strong>owner of one of the largest banks operating in the Arab world today, the Islamic Bank<\/strong>\u00a0Dalla Baraka<\/strong>, and widely recognized as “the pioneer of Islamic Banking<\/strong>.”<\/p>\n Salah Kamel is also the owner of\u00a0ART<\/strong>, the former\u00a0“<\/strong>Arab\u00a0media\u00a0empire” of which nothing but the religious TV channel\u00a0\u0625\u0642\u0640\u0640\u0640\u0640\u0640\u0640\u0640\u0631\u0623<\/strong>\u00a0(meaning “Read” in Arabic) remains, after the TV network group divested from its sports channels to\u00a0Al Jazeera\u00a0<\/strong>(which would become\u00a0Al Jazeera Sports<\/a><\/strong>, as we saw in a previous post) and its music channels to the Saudi group\u00a0Rotana<\/strong>, co-property of Saudi Prince\u00a0Al-Waleed bin Talal<\/strong>, considered today’s richest man in the Arab world. The other co-owner of Rotana, which also broadcasts the religious channel Al-Resalah<\/strong>, is none other than media mogul\u00a0Rupert<\/strong>\u00a0Murdoch<\/strong>,\u00a0of\u00a0Fox News Channel<\/strong>\u00a0fame, shareholder of the newly-launched channel Sky News Arabic<\/a><\/strong>.<\/p>\n Of course, the supreme irony of “business as usual”, according to which Rupert Murdoch<\/strong>, Australian<\/strong>–born<\/strong> owner of right-wing media outlets in the US<\/strong> and Great Britain<\/strong>, all of a sudden becomes through the\u00a0Rotana <\/strong>group\u00a0a\u00a0shareholder of a Muslim Brotherhood channel<\/strong> in the Middle East does not seem to have picked the interest of the West’s mass media—yet!<\/p>\n \u2666 MBC’s Al Arabiya vs. Qatar’s Al Jazeera<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n Coming under fierce competition from other new emerging channels, and after focusing too long on belly dance shows and Arabic-dubbed Latino daytime soap-operas of the “Days of our Lives<\/strong>” variety, the MBC group felt compelled to launch its own news-only network,\u00a0\u0642\u0646\u0640\u0640\u0640\u0640\u0640\u0640\u0640\u0640\u0640\u0640\u0627\u0629 \u0627\u0644\u0639\u0631\u0628\u064a\u0640\u0640\u0640\u0640\u0640\u0640\u0640\u0640\u0640\u0640\u0640\u0640\u0629 <\/strong>(Al Arabiya<\/strong> channel) in 2003<\/strong>, shortly before the US-led invasion of Iraq<\/strong>.<\/p>\n A large group of regional investors headed by the late Prime Minister of Lebanon<\/strong>, Rafiq Hariri<\/strong>, generously contributed to the launching of Al Arabiya.<\/p>\n The chief mission of Al Arabiya<\/strong> was to compete with its Qatari<\/strong> rival, \u0627\u0644\u062c\u0640\u0640\u0640\u0640\u0632\u064a\u0640\u0640\u0640\u0640\u0640\u0640\u0631\u0629\u00a0<\/strong>(Al Jazeera<\/strong>), which did not hesitate to lambaste the ruling dynasties of the region at every conceivable opportunity.<\/p>\n As pointed out by ArabianBusiness.com<\/a><\/strong>: “MBC<\/strong> was late to develop \u0642\u0646\u0640\u0640\u0640\u0640\u0640\u0627\u0629 \u0625\u062e\u0628\u0640\u0640\u0640\u0640\u0640\u0640\u0627\u0631\u064a\u0640\u0640\u0640\u0640\u0640\u0629 \u0639\u0644\u0649 \u0645\u062f\u0627\u0631 \u0627\u0644\u0633\u064e\u0651\u0640\u0640\u0640\u0640\u0640\u0640\u0627\u0639\u0640\u0640\u0640\u0629 <\/strong>(a 24-hour news channel<\/strong>), so the Qataris<\/strong> beat it to the punch and launched the hard-hitting and sometimes controversial market leader, Al Jazeera<\/strong>.”<\/p>\n Today, rather than focusing on documentaries <\/strong>or\u00a0\u0627\u0644\u0628\u0631\u0627\u0645\u0640\u0640\u0640\u0640\u0640\u0640\u0640\u0640\u062c \u0627\u0644\u062a\u064e\u0651\u0631\u0628\u0640\u0640\u0640\u0640\u0640\u0640\u0640\u0640\u0648\u064a\u0640\u0640\u0640\u0640\u0640\u0629 \u0648\u0627\u0644\u062b\u064e\u0651\u0642\u0640\u0640\u0640\u0640\u0640\u0640\u0640\u0640\u0627\u0641\u064a\u0640\u0640\u0640\u0640\u0640\u0640\u0629 <\/strong>(educational and cultural programs<\/strong>), the MBC-owned networks offer “pure entertainment” content such as \u0631\u0628\u064e\u0651\u0640\u0640\u0640\u0640\u0640\u0640\u0640\u0640\u0640\u0640\u0627\u062a \u0628\u064a\u0640\u0640\u0640\u0640\u0640\u0640\u0640\u0640\u0648\u062a \u064a\u0640\u0640\u0640\u0640\u0627\u0626\u0633\u0640\u0640\u0640\u0640\u0640\u0640\u0640\u0627\u062a<\/strong> (Arabic title of\u00a0“Desperate Housewives<\/strong>“), and TV shows like “Arabs Got Talent<\/strong>.” A fact which prompted some of its harsher critics to give those networks (MBC1, MBC2, MBC3<\/strong>, MBC4, MBC+Drama<\/strong>, etc.) the unflattering nickname of “MBC.IL Channels<\/strong>” (read “Imbecile Channels<\/strong>.”)<\/p>\n On Arabic-language news channels, read also this week’s:<\/p>\n Al Jazeera\u00a0turned into a powerhouse name that nearly everyone knows today; some also know\u00a0Al Arabiya—But how about the\u00a0MBC, a.k.a. The Middle East Broadcasting Center, does it ring a bell? No, it is not yet another Arabic-language Satellite channel that just got off the ground… In fact, just last year, the\u00a0MBC group\u00a0celebrated its\u00a020th anniversary. \u2666\u00a0Who owns…<\/p>\n\n