MBC Group Nabs Television Rights To Warner Bros.’ Feature Films And Television Series In Massive Programming Output Deal

(June 7, 2011 – Dubai, UAE and Burbank, CA) – Leading Middle East Broadcaster (MBC Group) has signed a landmark, multi-year programming output deal with Warner Bros. International Television Distribution (WBITD). MBC will debut WBITD series in the region on free TV, concurrent with the U.S. broadcast of the programs, as part of its commitment to delivering the best entertainment from around the world, free to the Arab world. The unique deal was struck at the recent L.A. Screenings and unveiled today by Tim Riordan, Group TV Director at MBC, and Jeffrey R. Schlesinger, President, Warner Bros. International Television. Under the terms of the agreement, MBC will have broadcast rights to the incredible slate of Warner Bros. feature films including “Sherlock Holmes,” “Valentine’s Day,” “Inception,” “The Hangover 2,” “Due Date” and many other hit films. Also included in the new deal, MBC will have access to the “Harry Potter” franchise package, as well as the “Batman,” “Superman,” “Matrix” and “Lethal Weapon” franchises, all of which have earned billions of dollars at the Worldwide Box Office. In addition, MBC will obtain the rights to new series from the industry’s most prolific television studio, Warner Bros. Television, securing series from the just announced 2011-12 season (including “Alcatraz,” “Person of Interest” and “Major Crimes”) as well as future 2012-13, 2013-14 and 2014-15 U.S. television seasons. Other big title series include: “Vampire Diaries,” “Nikita” and “The Mentalist,” ensuring MBC will run them before Pay TV or any other FTA TV in the MENA region. “MBC is a quality network that is committed to bringing our audience the very best in entertainment programming so it is only natural that we would be in business with one of Hollywood’s absolute best in films and television programming,” commented Riordan. “We also recognize our audience’s appetite to have access to popular series concurrently with the U.S.” Schlesinger said: “We have a long-standing relationship with MBC and are very happy that the relationship will continue with this latest deal. We look forward to working with them to bring our television programming to audiences in the Middle East.” About MBC Group: MBC Group is the first private free-to-air satellite broadcasting company in the Arab World which was launched in London in 1991 and later moved to its headquarters in Dubai in 2002. Over the past 20 years, MBC Group has grown to become a well-established media group that enriches people’s lives through information, interaction and entertainment. Based in Dubai, in the United Arab Emirates, MBC Group includes 10 television channels: MBC1 (general family entertainment), MBC2 and MBC MAX (24-hour movies), MBC3 (children’s entertainment), MBC4 (entertainment for new Arab women), MBC Action (action series and movies), MBC Persia (24-hour movie channel dubbed in Farsi) , Al Arabiya (the 24-hour Arabic language news channel); Wanasah (24-hour Arabic music channel) and MBC DRAMA coinciding with the Group’s 20th anniversary, and offers 24/7 Arabic Drama; the Group also includes two radio stations: MBC FM (Gulf music), and Panorama FM (contemporary Arabic hit music); as well as O3 productions, a specialized documentary production unit. It has also several online platforms: www.mbc.net, www.alarabiya.net, www.alaswaq.net and www.shahid.net, the first free VOD portal in the region. About Warner Bros. International Television Distribution: Warner Bros. International Television Distribution is one of the world’s largest distributors of feature films, television programs and animation to the international television marketplace (broadcast, pay cable, basic cable, satellite, pay-per-view, video-on-demand, digital platforms, etc.). It licenses some 50,000 hours of programming (including more than 6,000 features and 70+ current series), dubbed or subtitled in more than 40 languages, to telecasters and cablecasters in more than 175 countries. For more information, please log on to www.wbitv.com.###