Sam
Barnett

In a management shakeup in December 2020, Barnett was asked to return as CEO to MBC, the largest broadcaster in the Middle East and North Africa, after having stepped down from that role in December 2019 after 17 years with the company. Back at the helm now, he has stepped up efforts to boost the company’s premium Shahid VIP service, which reached a total of 2 million subscribers by the end of Ramadan 2021, marking a 43% year-on-year increase. Meanwhile, some 140 million people watched the MBC channels each day during the same peak-TV period. Barnett has also been shepherding MBC’s move from Dubai to Saudi Arabia, where there are plans to set up new headquarters in Riyadh.