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Deliberate and planned Attacks to Disrupt the Broadcast of MBC Group's Bouquet of Channels and Al Arabiya news channel on Nilesat

Dubai, 9th March 2010: MBC Group 's bouquet of channels recently experienced a deliberate disruption in its broadcast on Nilesat by an unknown source of perpetrators which disrupted transmission of the bouquet of channels for several and repeated hours, leading to the absence of sound and visual appearance of the screens.

MBC Group condemns this planned attack on its channels which not only target its transmission but its millions of viewers everywhere. For its part, Al Arabiya news channel holds the perpetrators responsible for preventing viewers to follow its news, breaking news, programmes, and live coverage of the escalating events in the region, more so, its bold and balanced coverage of the recent events in Tunisia, Egypt and Libya. This assault also comes after a series of recurrent attacks on Al Arabiya's on-ground team of reporters, therefore confirming purposeful attacks not only on its reporters but also aimed at an audience of millions of viewers everywhere.

A reliable source in Al Arabiya said that the disruption amplified when Al Arabiya's viewership was at peak during its comprehensive coverage of the heated events in Libya.

In anticipation of the transmission of MBC channels resuming on Nilesat , the network offers its viewers temporary alternative frequencies on the same satellite- Nilesat , as well as the existing ones on Arabsat to ensure the continuation of its broadcast to the Arab world and beyond.

In this context, MBC Group is committed to closely monitor the case with all the concerned parties and satellite broadcast providers, to identify the source of this attack and the responsibility of those who stand behind it, and therefore pursue prosecution, and reduce the possibility of such attacks in the future.
The following are temporary alternative frequencies for MBC channels and Al Arabiya on NileSat:

Channel	Frequency	Polarization	Symbol Rate	(FEC)
MBC1	12437 MHz	Horizontal	27.500 Mbps	FEC: ¾.
MBC2	12437 MHz	Horizontal	27.500 Mbps	FEC: ¾.
MBC4	12437 MHz	Horizontal	27.500 Mbps	FEC: ¾.
MBC Action	12437 MHz	Horizontal	27.500 Mbps	FEC: ¾.
MBC MAX	12437 MHz	Horizontal	27.500 Mbps	FEC: ¾.
Al Arabiya	12341 MHz	Vertical	27.500 Mbps	FEC: ¾.

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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 20^th 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 Arab world.

For further information, please contact:
Joyce Baz
MBC PR
Tel: + 971 4 391 999 ext 2790
Email: Joyce.Baz@ MBC .net

© Press Release 2011

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