MBC 4

This article is about the Emirati television channel. For the Mauritian channel, see MBC Digital 4. For other uses, see MBC (disambiguation).

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. Its programming is targeted towards women.

MBC 4

Broadcast area	Middle East North Africa
Network	Middle East Broadcasting Center
Headquarters	Dubai Media City, UAE Dubai, UAE
Programming
Language(s)	English Spanish Arabic
Picture format	1080i HDTV (downscaled to 16:9 576i for the SDTV feed)
Timeshift service	MBC 4 +1 MBC 4 +3
Ownership
Owner	Middle East Broadcasting Center
Sister channels	MBC 1 MBC 2 MBC 3 MBC 5 MBC Drama MBC+ Drama MBC Action MBC Max MBC Persia Al Arabiya Wanasah Al Hadath MBC+ Power MBC Variety HD MBC Bollywood MBC Masr MBC Masr 2 MBC Iraq MBC Pro Sports SSC
History
Launched	1 February 2005; 19 years ago (2005-02-01)
Availability
Terrestrial
Oqaab (Afghanistan) Digital	Channel 22 misc.

History

MBC 4 was a spin-off of MBC 2^[1] that began airing on 1 February 2005. Originally intended to provide Western news and entertainment to liberal adults, MBC 4 later transitioned to concentrate on women viewers. Programming on MBC 4 is supported by advertising.^[2] Its tagline is "So You can Watch What They Watch".^[3]

Programming

Main article: List of programmes broadcast by MBC 4

MBC 4 airs series and talk shows^[4] from the United States, Turkey,^[5] United Kingdom, and Australia,^[6] subtitled in Arabic.^[7] Kissing or intimate scenes are typically edited out of programs from other countries.^[8]

Some programmes that have aired on MBC4 include 3rd Rock from the Sun, Seinfeld, The Early Show, Jeopardy!, Days of Our Lives,^[3] Two and a Half Men,^[9] America's Got Talent, American Idol, Oprah, Friends, So You Think You Can Dance, The Late Show with David Letterman, The Talk, The Dr. Oz Show, The Vampire Diaries, Ringer,^[10] and Desperate Housewives.^[11]

It broadcast the Turkish soap operas Kiraz Mevsimi^[12] and Nour;^[13] however, airing of Turkish programmes was suspended in 2018 due to political tensions between Arab states and Turkey.^[14]

MBC 4 also airs original Arabic programmes. As of 2022^[update], the reality TV show Stars of Science has aired on MBC 4 for 14 seasons.^[15] MBC 4 aired a version of The X Factor for the Arab world.^[16] In 2022, MBC 4 aired the original series Stiletto.^[17]

See also

• MTV Middle East
• List of Turkish films
• Television in Turkey
• List of Turkish television series
• Turkish television drama
• MBC Group
• Television in the United Arab Emirates

References

1. Armbrust, W.; Wise, L. (2005). Culture Wars: The Arabic Music Video Controversy. Transnational broadcasting studies. Adham Center for Television Journalism, American University in Cairo. p. 108. ISBN 978-977-424-962-4. Retrieved 24 December 2022.
2. Kraidy, M.M. (2010). Reality Television and Arab Politics: Contention in Public Life. ACLS Fellows' publications. Cambridge University Press. pp. 25, 52. ISBN 978-0-521-76919-8. Retrieved 24 December 2022.
3. Poplak, R. (2009). Sheikhs Batmobile: In Pursuit Of American Pop Culture In The Muslim World. Penguin Canada. p. 99. ISBN 978-0-14-317289-5. Retrieved 24 December 2022.
4. Rinnawi, K.; Mellor, N.; Dajani, N.; Ayish, M.I. (2013). Arab Media: Globalization and Emerging Media Industries. Global Media and Communication. Polity Press. p. 23. ISBN 978-0-7456-3736-5. Retrieved 24 December 2022.
5. Mingant, N. (2022). Hollywood Films in North Africa and the Middle East: A History of Circulation. SUNY series, Horizons of Cinema. State University of New York Press. p. 2010. ISBN 978-1-4384-8856-1. Retrieved 24 December 2022.
6. Artz, L.; Kamalipour, Y.R. (2007). The Media Globe: Trends in International Mass Media. G - Reference, Information and Interdisciplinary Subjects Series. Rowman & Littlefield. p. 84. ISBN 978-0-7425-4094-1. Retrieved 24 December 2022.
7. Faiq, S. (2019). Arabic Translation Across Discourses. Routledge Studies in Language and Identity (in Basque). Taylor & Francis. p. 219. ISBN 978-1-351-06337-1. Retrieved 24 December 2022.
8. Hammond, A. (2007). What the Arabs Think of America. Greenwood World Pub. p. 41. ISBN 978-1-84645-000-6. Retrieved 24 December 2022.
9. Ranzato, I.; Zanotti, S. (2018). Linguistic and Cultural Representation in Audiovisual Translation. Routledge Advances in Translation and Interpreting Studies. Taylor & Francis. pp. 94–95. ISBN 978-1-351-97638-1. Retrieved 24 December 2022.
10. Alghamdi, Mohammed Ghazi (4 December 2021). "Neocolonizing the Nation: American Pop Culture and Saudi Television". Forum for World Literature Studies. 13 (4): 714. Gale A702035711.
11. "The US embassy cables Middle East". The Guardian. 8 December 2010. p. 8. Gale A243810066.
12. Booker, M.K.; Daraiseh, I. (2019). Consumerist Orientalism: The Convergence of Arab and American Popular Culture in the Age of Global Capitalism. Bloomsbury Publishing. pp. 162, 239. ISBN 978-1-83860-068-6. Retrieved 24 December 2022.
13. Jaafar, Ali (29 July 2008). "Saudi morality play". Daily Variety. Vol. 300, no. 17. p. 4. Gale A183489181.
14. Tamimi, Jumana Al (5 March 2018). "Call to cultivate Arab dramas after MBC pulls plug on Turkish soaps". Saudi – Gulf News. Retrieved 24 December 2022.
15. "Stars of Science". Stars of Science. 14 October 2022. Retrieved 24 December 2022.
16. ""Little Mix" to launch The X Factor Arabia season 3 in Dubai". Al Bawaba. 10 March 2015. Retrieved 24 December 2022.
17. Abumuhor, Alex (8 September 2022). "Everything You Need to Know About The Cast of Stiletto". Al Bawaba. Retrieved 24 December 2022.

External links

• MBC 4 at Telebisyon.net
• Wanasah Archived 28 August 2008 at the Wayback Machine