Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
08RPODUBAI40
2008-07-09 14:56:00
CONFIDENTIAL
Iran RPO Dubai
Cable title:  

MBC TO LAUNCH FILM CHANNEL AIMED AT PERSIAN SPEAKERS

Tags:  OIIP PGOV PREL SCUL IR 
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PP RUEHBC RUEHDE RUEHKUK
DE RUEHDIR #0040/01 1911456
ZNY CCCCC ZZH
P 091456Z JUL 08
FM RPO DUBAI
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 0296
INFO RUCNIRA/IRAN COLLECTIVE
RUEHDIR/RPO DUBAI PRIORITY 0288
RHEFDIA/DIA WASHINGTON DC
RUEAIIA/CIA WASHDC
RHEHAAA/NSC WASHINGTON DC
RUEHDE/AMCONSUL DUBAI PRIORITY 0256
RUEHAD/AMEMBASSY ABU DHABI PRIORITY 0224
RUEHAD/USDAO ABU DHABI TC
RUEATRS/DEPT OF TREASURY WASHINGTON DC
C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 RPO DUBAI 000040 

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 7/9/2018
TAGS: OIIP PGOV PREL SCUL IR
SUBJECT: MBC TO LAUNCH FILM CHANNEL AIMED AT PERSIAN SPEAKERS

DUBAI 00000040 001.2 OF 002


CLASSIFIED BY: Ramin Asgard, Director, Iran Regional Presence
Office, Department of State.
REASON: 1.4 (b),(d)



C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 RPO DUBAI 000040

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 7/9/2018
TAGS: OIIP PGOV PREL SCUL IR
SUBJECT: MBC TO LAUNCH FILM CHANNEL AIMED AT PERSIAN SPEAKERS

DUBAI 00000040 001.2 OF 002


CLASSIFIED BY: Ramin Asgard, Director, Iran Regional Presence
Office, Department of State.
REASON: 1.4 (b),(d)




1. (C) Summary: The Middle East Broadcasting Center (MBC) plans
to launch an entertainment satellite TV channel on July 9 aimed
at Iranian audiences that will show movies with Persian
subtitles. The broadcast by the Saudi-owned, Dubai-based MBC
will join a small number of satellite channels, largely based in
the US, directed specifically at Persian-speaking audiences.
IRPOff was told July 6 by the Group Director of Marketing for
MBC that it was not promoting MBC Persia on its Arabic channels
in order to avoid controversy about the channel's agenda, such
as the suggestion in a Syrian newspaper that the channel
represents Saudi efforts to counter Iran. The Director also
said he expects advertising on the channel within Iranian
domestic and expatriate markets to provide high revenue returns.
An Iranian cultural figure in Dubai told IRPOff on July 7 he
believes broadcasting American films is a good way to reach mass
Iranian audiences and that the value of this kind of engagement
has remained largely untapped. Given the dominance of state-run
TV in Iran, the channel probably will appeal to satellite TV
viewers seeking additional entertainment options and programs in
their native language. End summary.

MBC Persia Launch Quiet But Important

--------------


2. (C) IRPOff met Group Director of Marketing for the
Saudi-owned, Dubai-based MBC, Mazen Hayek (please protect) at
MBC headquarters in Dubai Media City July 6. According to press
reports MBC Group's new free-to-air channel, known as MBC
Persia, will begin broadcasting international movies and
Hollywood blockbusters around the clock in multiple genres, as
well as Farsi advertisements July 9. Hayek noted that MBC was
promoting the new channel on its two English-language channels,
but not on its Arabic channels, describing this as necessary to
avoid controversy about the channel's agenda. Providing
additional detail, Hayek said that there had been one negative
reference to MBC Persia in a Syrian paper suggesting the channel

represented a Saudi move to counter Iran.


3. (C) Hayek showed IRPOff the MBC Persia programming grid for
its first week. The channel will air movies serially from four
to ten in the evening, with reruns during the remainder of the
day. The films were well-known American titles, mostly recent
and in multiple genres. Hayek said that the primary target for
the channel was Iran, and that MBC expected very strong revenue
returns from advertising in this large market, as well as among
the Persian Gulf Iranian expatriate population, which Hayek said
his marketing research put at 700,000. In addition, Hayek
pointed out that MBC Persia can reach Farsi-speaking audiences
in Afghanistan and Central Asia, although its primary target
market will be Iran.


4. (C) In a separate meeting with Dubai-based Iranian cultural
figure active in education and the arts, Dr. Seyed Firouzabadi
July 7, IRPOff asked about the project from the Iranian
perspective. Firouzabadi surprisingly claimed that he presented
this idea to MBC several months back after his own efforts to
create a similar satellite channel floundered. In Firouzabadi's
estimation, American movies are a potent means of reaching mass
audiences in Iran. While IRIB (Iranian government TV) does show
American movies regularly, including some quite recent movies,
the entertainment and cultural engagement value of Hollywood is
still largely untapped in his view. (Comment: Firouzabadi, an
Iraqi-born nephew to the traditional conservative Minister of
Justice, welcomed the project - a strong departure from some
representatives of Iran's inner circle obsessed with countering
corrupting foreign influences. IRPO is exploring means to
engage with the well-connected Firouzabadi on an American film
exchange to Iran. End comment)


5. (U) MBC Persia will be widely available to regional viewers
via the Nilesat and Arabsat satellites. The channel will be
modeled after MBC 2, which broadcasts films in English, and will
provide Persian subtitles in place of Arabic subtitles. MBC
Group's TV Director said the channel will be the first of its
kind to provide this type of subtitled, premium content
specifically aimed at Persian-speaking family audiences. The
group's marketing director said it is the company's strategic
policy to launch customized channels catering to certain
audience demographics, preferences, and needs, and that MBC aims

DUBAI 00000040 002.2 OF 002


to provide improved entertainment options for regional viewers.
An Iranian satellite news Web site suggested MBC's motivation in
launching the channel is to take advantage of the "hot"
advertising market on entertainment TV channels.

No Official Iranian Government Reaction

--------------


6. (U) There has been no reaction from Iranian officials
regarding the channel, according to a BBC Monitoring report. An
Iranian news outlet that is close to the regime posted a report
about the launch, but did not provide any comments. Press
reports suggest that the UAE in early 2006 agreed to an Iranian
request to prohibit live transmissions broadcasting in Persian
from Dubai, partly to derail plans for a European-based TV
channel aimed at Iranian audiences. The Iranian government
sometimes jams certain foreign satellite channels and viewing
satellite TV remains illegal in Iran.

Foreign Broadcasts To Iran

--------------


7. (U) There are approximately 30 to 40 foreign satellite TV
channels broadcasting in Persian, most based out of Los Angeles
and Europe, according to BBC Monitoring. In addition to MBC
Persia, BBC intends to launch a Persian-language channel in
August or September, according to press and an Iranian
journalist based in Tehran.

Background of MBC Group

--------------


8. (U) MBC, founded by a Saudi businessman and based in Dubai,
has broadcasted a mix of news and entertainment via satellite
since 1991. MBC Group operates six TV channels, including the
24-hour Arabic language news channel Al Arabiya.


9. (C) Comment: MBC Persia probably will be of interest to
audiences in Iran with access to satellite TV, as well as to
Iranians outside the country, given the limited number of
satellite TV programs broadcasting in Persian. The channel's
focus on film, which suggests it will avoid political topics and
the impression of having a political agenda, probably will
appeal given Iranians' interest in entertainment programming and
alternatives to state-run TV, which is the most dominant and
easily accessible media inside Iran. Soon, MBC Persia may be
joined with a venture by StarTV (NewsCorp) for additional
Persian-language entertainment broadcasting into Iran. IRPO
will report on the StarTV project septel.
ASGARD