MBC 1 is a
free-to-air
Free-to-air (FTA) services are television (TV) and radio services broadcast in unencrypted form, allowing any person with the FTA Receiver, appropriate receiving equipment to receive the signal and view or listen to the content without requiring ...
pan-Arab general
television
Television, sometimes shortened to TV, is a telecommunication medium for transmitting moving images and sound. The term can refer to a television set, or the medium of television transmission. Television is a mass medium for advertisin ...
channel.
Satellite
A satellite or artificial satellite is an object intentionally placed into orbit in outer space. Except for passive satellites, most satellites have an electricity generation system for equipment on board, such as solar panels or radioisotope ...
transmission started from
London
London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...
in September 1991, making MBC 1 the first independent
Arabic
Arabic (, ' ; , ' or ) is a Semitic languages, Semitic language spoken primarily across the Arab world.Semitic languages: an international handbook / edited by Stefan Weninger; in collaboration with Geoffrey Khan, Michael P. Streck, Janet C ...
satellite TV
Satellite television is a service that delivers television programming to viewers by relaying it from a communications satellite orbiting the Earth directly to the viewer's location. The signals are received via an outdoor parabolic antenna commo ...
station, with an estimated audience of more than 130 million
Arab people
The Arabs (singular: Arab; singular ar, عَرَبِيٌّ, DIN 31635: , , plural ar, عَرَب, DIN 31635, DIN 31635: , Arabic pronunciation: ), also known as the Arab people, are an ethnic group mainly inhabiting the Arab world in Wester ...
around the world. MBC has recently moved its headquarters to
Riyadh
Riyadh (, ar, الرياض, 'ar-Riyāḍ, lit.: 'The Gardens' Najdi pronunciation: ), formerly known as Hajr al-Yamamah, is the capital and largest city of Saudi Arabia. It is also the capital of the Riyadh Province and the centre of the R ...
,
Saudi Arabia
Saudi Arabia, officially the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), is a country in Western Asia. It covers the bulk of the Arabian Peninsula, and has a land area of about , making it the fifth-largest country in Asia, the second-largest in the A ...
.
MBC 1 previously used to air cartoons, western movies and programs before launching
MBC 2,
MBC 3
MBC 3 is a free-to-air children's channel launched on 8 December 2004, and appeals to children under the age of 15. All foreign television animated programs have been dubbed into Arabic. The channel also produces its own original programmes. It ...
, and
MBC 4
MBC 4 is a television channel in the Middle East. It was launched on 1 February 2005 at 5:00 P.M. (GMT) and is owned by the Middle East Broadcasting Center. MBC 4 airs international programmes with Arabic language subtitles. Programming is tar ...
.
One of its most popular, widely known and controversial shows, and the one generating the highest advertising rates, is ''
Kalam Nawaem
''Kalam Nawaem'' (Arabic: , English: "''Sweet Talk''") is a one-hour, female-hosted Arabic talk show that airs late Sunday evenings on the satellite network MBC1. Premiering in 2002, it is credited with pushing social boundaries on Arab television ...
'', a show led by several women that addresses many types of (women's) issues and taboos, including terrorism, domestic violence, polygamy, divorce and
women's suffrage
Women's suffrage is the right of women to vote in elections. Beginning in the start of the 18th century, some people sought to change voting laws to allow women to vote. Liberal political parties would go on to grant women the right to vot ...
.
MBC 1 HD launched on 1 July 2011.
From 24 March to 22 June 2020, during the
COVID-19 pandemic
The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...
, MBC 1 used an on-screen DOG depicting its logo encased inside a house.
Programming
Television shows and programming
*''
Arab Idol
''Arab Idol'' is an Arabic television show, based on the popular British show ''Pop Idol'' created by Simon Fuller's 19 Entertainment and developed by Fremantle Media and recorded in Beirut, Lebanon. The first season premiered on 9 December 201 ...
''
*''Good Morning Arabs''
*''
Kalam Nawaem
''Kalam Nawaem'' (Arabic: , English: "''Sweet Talk''") is a one-hour, female-hosted Arabic talk show that airs late Sunday evenings on the satellite network MBC1. Premiering in 2002, it is credited with pushing social boundaries on Arab television ...
''
*''Little Big Stars''
*''MBC in a Week''
*''MBC News''
*''
Princess Sara
, also spelled as ''Princess Sarah'', is a Japanese anime series produced by Nippon Animation, based on Frances Hodgson Burnett's 1905 novel, ''A Little Princess''. Spanning 46 episodes, it originally premiered in 1985 across Japan on Fuji Te ...
''
Play
*''Aleial kaburat''
*''Bani Samet''
*''Bay bay landan''
*''
Cocomelon
''Cocomelon'' (stylized as CoComelon) is an American YouTube channel and streaming media show acquired by the British company Moonbug Entertainment and maintained by the American company Treasure Studio. Cocomelon specializes in 3D animation v ...
''
*''The School of the Misfits''
Idents
MBC 1 rebranded in 2012 to bring a new set of idents, idents are now 9 seconds long, unlike 2009's rebrand, which had 20 seconds long idents. In this rebrand, there are menus and bumpers (idents), the menus are used for next tags, which have continuity announcers, bumpers are used to "split" between breaks and programmes, and are used at the end of any programme. Focusing on a "cube-ish" theme, the channel has a simple look, but rather stylish.
See also
*
MBC Group
MBC Group ( ar, مجموعة إم بي سي), is a Saudi media conglomerate based in the Middle East and North Africa region. Launched in London in 1991, the company moved to its headquarters to Dubai in 2002 then moved to Riyadh in 2022.
MBC ...
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:MBC 1
1991 establishments in the United Kingdom
1991 establishments in France
Television channels and stations established in 1991
Free-to-air
Television stations in Saudi Arabia
Arab mass media
Arabic-language television stations
Middle East Broadcasting Center