Middle East Broadcasting Center (MBC) is a media conglomerate that was set up in 1991 in London. It moved its headquarters to Dubai in 2002. The group operates a spate of television and radio channels, including MBC1, MBC2, MBC3, MBC4, MBC5, MBC Drama and Al Arabiya, which operate across the Middle Eastern region. Yet, as the company originated in Saudi Arabia, we profiled it here. MBC runs channels in Egypt and Iraq. The group also owns the radio stations MBC FM and Panorama FM. In August 2023, MBC announced plans to launch a cultural television channel in cooperation with the country’s ministry of culture.
Media assets
Television: MBC1, MBC MASR, MBC MASR 2, MBC2, MBC3, MBC4, MBC5, MBC Drama, MBC Drama Plus, MBC Max, MBC Bollywood, MBC Power, MBC Action, MBC Wanasah, Al Arabiya, Al Hadath, MBC USA, MBC Iraq, MBC Egypt, MBC Egypt 2
Radio: MBC FM, MBC Panorama FM, MBC USA
State Media Matrix Typology: Captured Public/State-Managed (CaPu)
Ownership and governance
A stake of 60% in MBC is owned by the Saudi government following a deal between the Saudi government and Waleed Al Ibrahim, the group’s founder, who retains the remaining 40% in the company. The share purchase is part of a larger plan of the Saudi government to seize assets controlled by businessmen whom they suspect of being involved in corruption.
Some observers who cover Saudi Arabia we talked to say that this is only a pretext to gain control over as many media outlets as possible. A group of these businessmen, including Ibrahim, were detained by the Saudi government at the Ritz Carlton hotel in Riyadh back in 2017. The MBC deal was announced right after Ibrahim and three of his brothers were released from detention in January 2018.
Source of funding and budget
There is no publicly available financial data about MBC’s performance. The company is majority funded through commercial revenues (mostly advertising) and subscriptions (following the growth of its VoD platforms), according to journalists covering Saudi Arabia. According to a source familiar, MBC had a turnover of US$ 613m in 2021.
Editorial independence
Since the takeover of the group by the Saudi government, the editorial coverage of MBC channels has been closely controlled by the Saudi authorities. They have plans to use MBC as part of the kingdom’s media strategy aimed at countering propaganda and content from Iran and Qatar.
No domestic statute and no independent assessment or oversight mechanism to validate the editorial independence of MBC’s outlets have been identified.
August 2023