Saudi Prince Al-Waleed Bin Talal, who owns a 6.6% stake in 21st Century Fox, is increasing his investments in Arab movies through his Rotana Media Group with plans to produce a slate of new Arabic blockbusters over the next two years and ambitions to give the local industry a post-Arab Spring boost.Rotana, in which Al-Waleed is a majority shareholder, has announced it will be working with Egyptian producers including Ahmad Al Sabki and Walid Sabri on a slate of mainstream...
Middle East Broadcasting Center (MBC)
Waleed
bin
Ibrahim
Al
Ibrahim
Chairman
MBC was the first pan-Arab free-to-air satellite TV network when it was launched in 1991 by Al-Ibrahim as a single channel out of London. It’s now a Dubai-based 18-channel media conglomerate providing a daily diet of Hollywood movies, localized talent shows such as “The Voice Arabia” and “Arabs Got Talent,” sports and news via its Al Arabiya spinoff to millions across the region. Though MBC has always aired local content along with its other offerings, it is now ramping up production of Arabic originals, after pulling Turkish soaps off their airwaves in March 2018. That May, Al-Ibrahim highlighted new opportunities for the company in Saudi Arabia, where MBC has a slate of films and television series in the pipeline that will target local, regional and global audiences.