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MBC Group Announces the Retirement of Tim Riordan and the Appointment of Ali Jaber as Group TV Director

Dubai, June 22, 2011- Following decades of accomplishments, Tim Riordan decides to retire at the pinnacle of his career from his current position as Group TV Director at MBC, at the beginning of October, while remaining as a special advisor to MBC Chairman and Board. Having helped drive MBC channel launches over the years and successfully negotiated output deals with all the major studios, Riordan has been instrumental in shaping the unique TV viewing experience that millions in the Middle East and North Africa region have enjoyed.

In parallel, MBC Group announces the appointment of Ali Jaber as Group TV Director. Jaber will be joining the team of Group Directors that manage the Group's activities across many different media and platforms.

Commenting on this, Ali Al-Hedeithy, MBC's Group Director General said: "Tim Riordan has been a pillar of the MBC Group for many years. He made his mark particularly in the launch of MBC's western content channels. However, we have also benefitted from his wide ranging experience across all areas of the Group. Tim's leadership, his ability to make things happen from studio deals to channel launches, and his readiness to innovate - have been a big asset for MBC. We're delighted that Tim has agreed to stay in an advisory capacity to MBC Chairman and Board."

As far as the appointment of Ali Jaber is concerned, Ali Al-Hedeithy commented: "I'm pleased to welcome Ali Jaber to the MBC family, ahead of his joining date in September. Ali's background, his wide ranging achievements in the industry and his years of experience will bring added value to the Group and will further enrich our team of Group Directors."

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About Tim Riordan
Tim Riordan has been in the "Media & Entertainment" global and regional business for over 50 years, specifically in the Broadcast industry. Riordan started his career back in 1959 with ITV for nearly 35 years, before joining MBC Group 's London-based HQ in 1998. For the past 13 years, Riordan has had several milestones with MBC, starting with overseeing the London-Dubai HQ move in 2002, the MBC2 movie channel launch in 2003, and his tangible contributions to MBC's transformational process from a single channel SatCaster concluding with 10 top-rated channels by 2011.

About Ali Jaber
Ali Jaber has served for more than 20 years with various regional Media organizations, prior to his most recent role as Media consultant to The Executive Office of HRH Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Managing Editor at Dubai Media Incorporated, and Dean of the MBRSC at AUD.

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 TV 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 and www.shahid.net, the first free VOD portal in the Arab world.

For further information, please contact:
Ruba Al Ayed
Group PR Manager
MBC Group
Email: ruba.alayed@mbc.net
Tel: +971 4 390 9825
Mob: +971 56 603 8358

© Press Release 2011