Media Economics & Research "MBC Channel" Company

Media Economics & Research "MBC Channel" Company MBC Group is a private free-to-air satellite broadcasting company. The company was started in 1991 in London but later moved the headquarters to Dubai in the United Arab Emirates (Al Jenaibi, 385-394). The company currently broadcasts within the Arab world and it has grown into becoming one of the well-established media companies. MBC provides interaction, entertainment and information that enriches people`s lives. The company operates a total of 10 television channels and a documentary production unit. The company also runs numerous online platforms and radio stations targeting a wide range of audience in the Arab world. Some of the main market segments targeted by the company are business people, movie lovers, women and young children. MBC has greatly changed the Arab world through its broadcasts. The company is continuously expanding the broadcasting industry by using advanced information technology. The main goal of the company is provision of exceptional quality of broadcasting values and unquestioned ethics (Company website). This essay analyses the business model used by MBC Company in its operations. The MBC Company has developed customer loyalty over the past 20 years. As a result, the company is focused on production of TV content, DVDs and other consumer products like toys, home furnishings, stationery, apparel and special programs from channels such as MBC3. The company provides a wide range of services that satisfy the needs of Arabian audience. The company offers both TV and commercial stations across the Gulf. These channels are used to provide the best quality broadcasting of entertainment and news. MBC targets movie lovers of all genres. The MBC2 is a free-to-air movie channel that operates on a 24 hour basis (Sakr, pp 2-7). The company introduced this channel targeting Hollywood movie customers in Arabia. This channel has led to the spread of Hollywood movies in the Middle East. The company later introduced other movie channels for different genres to capture a wide range of customers in the region. The company has introduced alternative platforms to serve the ever changing customer needs. There are several web portals used by the company to provide interactive Arabic content for the online users. The mbc.net is the main portal for the company and its offers up to date interactive Arabic content. This portal offers a wide range of services including the Video-on-Demand (VoD) services for the customers. The company intends to introduce live program streaming for all the channels. The Arabia news portals such as AIArabiya.net cover economics, politics, sports and social news (Sakr Al Jenaibi, 385-394). This was launched to deal with the ever changing Arab television news. The information is continuously updated on a 24 hour basis by qualified professions and the users can access live streaming as well as reference materials. This portal is available in different languages for a wide variety of users. Al Arabia business was also launched by the company to target companies and individual investors. The channel offers up to date business and financial information which gives real-time market updates to the key decision makers and business leaders. This channel also provides a market analysis which helps businessmen to make informed decisions. The company launched an MBC3 channel in 2004 to target young children. The channel offers a carefully selected mixture of edutainment and entertainment that satisfies the needs of Arab youngsters. They include various in-house productions like Eish Safari which provides a children`s reality experience of its kind (Al Jenaibi, 385-394). The MBC Company also introduced MBC4 channel in 2005 to target women in the region. The channel offers programming packages that are suitable for women in the Arab world which includes a selection of best international drama, comedy, light entertainment shows and chat. The company also targets young male audience through provision of action programs. MBC Action provides unique packages in the region which offers its viewers reality shows and high octane action on a 24 hour basis. The MBC Company also targets the business people through provision of real-time business news and analysis. The AIAswaq.net portal was launched by the company in 2006 to provide accurate and timely news and analysis in Arabia (Sakr, pp 10-29). This portal has become a leading source of business news in the whole of Arabic region mainly targeting individual investors and companies. This site provides real-time stock market news, business developments and financial services in a user friendly design which gives it a competitive advantage. Jawal Al Arabiya is a mobile news channel which offers its subscribers news wherever they are. The company has entered into partnership with the leading telecom providers in the region to ensure that viewers are able to get up to date breaking news immediately when they occur. The company launched mobile services in 2007 which have been extended to include a wide range of services that are designed for mobile users (Company website). Subscribers are able to access MMS and SMS content, mobile TV, live streaming, video on demand and mobile applications. The MBC mobile services allow customers to tailor their own choice of entertainment packages according to their desires. The company also provides java games that are developed to satisfy the needs of users in the region. This has made the company to be the leading provider of high quality mobile content. Apart from providing broadcasting services, the company also targets people who like reading. MBC publications produce books and a lifestyle magazine which includes news, MBC program list and features. These books and magazines are carefully written to satisfy the needs of Arabic audience. The company enjoys a product loyalty gained through publications, consumer products and DVDs (Sakr, pp 2-7). The licensing and merchandising division is an agent for several international companies in the Middle East. A wide range of consumer products are offered by the merchandise division to support programs that are aired. This has helped the company to widen its revenue base and acquire more customers. The company intends to actively participate in modern retail trade by using regional distributors. MBC also targets other media companies and broadcasters in the Middle East. The company operates a subsidiary by the name of 03 productions. This subsidiary specializes in providing several production as well as post production services to the customers (Sakr, pp 10-29). The company is a regional leader in the production and distribution of best content as well as inventive program mining, docu-dramas, reality shows, documentaries, factual entertainment, dubbed drama and Arabic drama. The subsidiary has also released a new series that air on MBC 4. The 03 productions deal with the acquisition and production of content for both MBC and other companies. It is a leading producer of high quality factual programming. MBC offers high quality television hardware, OB van resources and studio services through MBC facilities division. The company also provides expertise to production houses and other broadcasters through its team of highly skilled professionals. The most important assets by the company are dedicated employees that offer exceptional services to production companies and broadcasters within the region. The MBC facility offers a variety of broadcast services which are delivered by highly qualified employees that have a lot of expertise and experience (Al Jenaibi, 385-394). Some of the technical services that are offered by the company include lighting and stage design, studio services, OB Van resources, equipments, location selection and database, catering services, entertainment and security services. The company operates an independent profit center in its marketing department. The MBC Company is a leading free-to-air satellite broadcasting company in the Middle East with several online services and publications (Sakr, pp 10-29). The company targets a wide range of customers including business people, women, young children, young male audience and movie lovers. The company also offers professional expertise to other media companies and publishes a number of books as well as magazines. This wide rage of services gives the company a competitive advantage over other companies in the region. The company has also been in the industry for quite a long time which has enabled it to develop customer loyalty. However, there is need for the company to expand its services to other parts of the world if it has to remain competitive in the future. The world has been reduced to a global village by the introduction new technologies. There is an increase in sharing of information and interaction hence the need for global coverage. Many multinational companies are coming up and MBC has to extend its services in order to remain competitive. Work Cited Al Jenaibi, Badreya. "New Age Of Press Democracy In The Middle East. Arabic News Channels: Al-Jazeera." International Journal Of Academic Research 2.4 (2010): 385 394. Academic Search Premier. Web. 2 Nov. 2012. Company website. http://www.mbc.net/en/corporate/about-us/history.html Accessed on 1st November, 2012 Sakr, Naomi. "Satellite Television and Development in the Middle East". pp 29. (1999) Sakr, Naomi. "Whys and Wherefores of Satellite Channel Ownership". Satellite Realms: Transnational Television, Globalization and the Middle East pp 2-7(2001)