In recognition of his pioneering role and leadership within the media industry in the Arab world, MBC Group Chairman, Waleed bin Ibrahim al Ibrahim was named 'Media Man of the Year' at the 4th MENA Cristal Awards held in Lebanon.

The annual event was attended by top business decision-makers and senior executives in the media, advertising and related communications industries.

This award complements Al Ibrahim's growing list of achievements and prestigious awards, including being recently awarded the 'Knight' from the Arab League and 'Innovator of the Year' from Arabian Business.

Commenting on the award, Al Ibrahim highlighted the importance of recognizing innovation within the media industry as an incentive to continuously excel and overcome the many challenges that we all face. The award will equally encourage MBC Group to raise the bar in the vibrant Arab media industry, with the aim to further develop knowledge economies and content industries.

Al Ibrahim said: 'Our journey together started in 1991 when we launched mbc1 as the first private pan-Arab satellite TV channel, and today we stand as the largest private media group in the Arab world. It is has been an exciting journey that has succeeded in earning the loyalty of viewers, the trust of advertisers and the creativity of our talented employees. MBC Group has become a source of inspiration, a true benchmark in terms of family entertainment, and a melting pot of Arab cultures that respect the norms and traditions of our society.'

Al Ibrahim concluded: 'Today we offer our viewers an unrivalled choice of platforms from which they can enjoy their favourite programs on mbc channels - whether on screen, on radio, on the internet, on the mobile or even by reading our new weekly magazine, 'Haya mbc', which goes hand-in-hand with the remote control and contributes to the pre-planning of viewing habits during the course of the week. As far as advertisers are concerned, they continue to benefit from the highest value and return on advertising investments - thus renewing their confidence in the efficacy of our platforms and our ability to reach and interact with millions of viewers every day of the year.'

In recognition of his pioneering leadership within the media broadcasting industry in the Arab world, MBC Group Chairman, Waleed bin Ibrahim Al Ibrahim was named Innovator of the Year at ITP's 8th annual Arabian Business Awards held in Abu Dhabi.

Commenting on the award, Al Ibrahim highlighted the value of recognizing the dedicated efforts made to shape the media landscape in the Arab world, particularly in an era of globalization and close interaction with international counterparts. With the region in the spotlight - politically, economically and socially - the Arab world has attracted top-rated international broadcasting companies to the region.

'With an increasing number of media cities being developed throughout the Middle East, our challenge is continue fostering Arab talent and investing in the content industry, particularly in TV production, music, Art, software development and international film studios. We will continue to move the boundaries and lead the way, exploring new formats, new platforms and new materials to help in developing our societies and elevating our standing globally.'

Al Ibrahim concluded: 'This award goes to each and everyone at MBC Group as much as it recognizes all the talented and creative Arab individuals who continuously contribute the innovative ideas that help raise the bar within our industry, and enrich people's lives.'

Cisco announced that the Dubai-based Middle East Broadcasting Centre (MBC Group) has completed the implementation of an innovative network that will help the broadcasting giant to distribute data and live and prerecorded video content over a Cisco networking architecture.

MBC has further deployed a Cisco Unified Communications solution including Presence, Unified Messaging, MeetingPlace collaboration platform, Video and Wireless Telephony to support greater employee mobility and improve collaboration and workflow between the offices and production studios.

The new Internet Protocol (IP) network will connect the broadcaster's Dubai head office to 16-branch offices and three production sites in Saudi Arabia, Egypt and Lebanon.

The deployment of Cisco's broadcast solution will reduce the time and cost of delivering content across large distances and reduce the reliance on satellite connectivity.

Amjad Edris, chief technology officer at MBC, said: 'The liberalisation of the communications sector in the Middle East has led to an exceptional boom in the number of free-to-air channels. Due to the very timely and sensitive nature of broadcasting, as well as the rapid growth that our operations are witnessing, we turned to Cisco to deploy a very strong and reliable platform that can handle our requirements.

Edris added: 'Cisco has provided us with a scalable broadcast solution based on IP architecture, by interconnecting disparate networks, we have opened the possibility for collaborative working with our regional offices and production studios as well as managed to centralise network management and significantly reduce operational costs.'

Delivering and distributing content across an IP infrastructure provides broadcasters with an alternative to the expensive satellite method. Even where geography demands the use of satellite technology, IP complements it in a variety of applications including local content delivery and interactivity.

Sam Alkharrat, managing director for Cisco, Gulf and Pakistan said: 'MBC can now integrate Cisco Unified Communications applications over the IP network, using Cisco's advanced capabilities. The new state-of-the-art infrastructure will also help MBC harness the power of Web 2.0 in order to effectively organise and categorise content, improve collaboration, open new communication channels, and link into its business processes.

We are very pleased to participate and help enable this very important transformation for MBC,' he concluded.

Cisco's solutions include Cisco Unified Communications, call centre solutions to serve as the broadcaster's IT help desk; security solutions including Cisco ASA5500 Series firewalls, Cisco Network Admission Control, Cisco Security Mitigation and Response System, Cisco Catalyst® 6500 Series Switches, fully loaded to serve as the core and edge of the network and a host/network intrusion detection system.

The overall implementation features Cisco's latest technologies, which include a range of routers to enable WAN connectivity as well as integrated wireless networking, Wide Area Access Services (WAAS) and the Digital Media System. The same solutions will be implemented in all the branches.

MBC Group includes 6 television channels: mbc1 (general family entertainment), mbc2 (24-hour movies), mbc3 (children's entertainment), mbc4 (entertainment for new Arab women), MBC Action (action series and movies), and Al Arabiya (the 24-hour Arabic language news channel); two radio stations: mbc FM (Gulf music), and panorama fm (contemporary Arabic hit music); as well as O3 productions, a specialized documentary production unit, and Middle East News agency (MEN), a video news gathering agency.

MBC Group participates at 8th International Agenda Setting Conference.

Addressing an audience of top political, business and media decision-makers attending the '8th International Agenda Setting Conference' in Berlin, Mazen Hayek, MBC Group Director of Marketing, PR & Commercial, presented the challenges faced in reshaping the image of the Middle East; and the role that local and regional media need to assume in changing international perceptions and in replacing simplistic labels with genuine knowledge of each other's lives.

'The Middle East is most commonly portrayed in international media as a region in crisis, an area of instability, global uncertainty and a source of 'bad news'. Obviously, there is another story that isn't being told, loud and clear,' said Hayek. 'More than a challenge, there's a responsibility for local and regional media to balance the ratio of bad news to good news - while it is easy to focus on the negative stories, of which there are many, there is a duty to report the positive stories too.'

In his address, Hayek highlighted the fact that this responsibility by local and regional media to actively participate in reshaping the image of the Middle East, is as much to alter the perceptions of the global media and international audiences as it is to provide healthy role models for the Arab youth. With approximately 50 percent of the population in the Middle East under the age of 24, it is imperative that their understanding of their world and the view of their future is one of hope.

'Reshaping the image of the Middle East and changing perceptions should ideally focus on balancing the ratio of bad news to good news; portraying the genuine Arab identity; highlighting huge Arab investments overseas; and showcasing successful models such as Dubai, the modernization of Abu Dhabi, the new Economic Free Zones in Saudi Arabia, the reinvention of Libya and the positive gradual change in Lebanon, Jordan, Egypt and Morocco. Sustained efforts should also be deployed to foster cross-cultural joint TV/Film productions, coupled with greater journalists' exchange and training programs; and finally, to invest in international film studios, music, gaming and other content industries, on a global scale,' concluded Hayek.

The International Agenda Setting Conference is an annual event, organised by Media Tenor, and brings together top-level media professionals, politicians, NGOs, business leaders and academics from around the world, to discuss the growing influence of media on society and access a rich pool of content analysis data.

The 'Generation Y' forum, managed by IIR, explored communication and marketing issues faced in reaching 'Generation Y'.

Mazen Hayek, MBC Group Director of Marketing, PR and Commercial, participated as a panel member at the Middle East's premier youth marketing forum.

'As the region's premier broadcaster, MBC has succeeded in developing a bouquet of generic and thematic channels with a relevant entertainment offering for everyone, from families, to movie buffs, to kids, to the new Arab woman, to active male youth, to news devotees,' comments Mazen Hayek.

'Arab youth are the heartbeat and future of Arab society. They represent a vast pool of talent, skills, ideas and potential for the Arab world to harness. As the fastest growing segment of the population they are characterised by a strong sense of identity and purpose. The challenge for Arab media is to foster youth with the aim to help contribute to building a knowledge culture.

'It's obvious Arab youth love to spend quality time with TV, engaging and interacting with programs and content. Consequently, we owe them the best in brand positioning, sharp targeting, quality content, clever scheduling, and great packaging,' continues Hayek.

'Our advertising partners realise the full potential of the connection between media and youth, hence they look to nurture sustained relationships. They recognise the need to connect by getting high ROI and value for ad spend, but also by exploring non-conventional means of brand exposure.'

During the panel discussion, Hayek highlighted the phenomenal success of MBC Action, showcasing it as a reference in marketing and addressing the entertainment needs of youth.

'MBC Action has proved that it's still possible to build a very strong youth brand on TV. We created a brand with an unstoppable personality, backed by top content, packaged in a channel environment that feels like home: catering to the high-octane aspirations of Generation Y, and we've been rewarded by unparalleled ratings performance, rating consistently in the top ten pan-Arab channels,' concludes Hayek.

Dubai-based Middle East Broadcasting Centre (MBC Group) cruised ahead of any competition to lead the pack of international winners at the Promax/BDA World 2007 Awards competition - one of the most prestigious global events recognising achievements in broadcast and electronic marketing and design.

With a total of seven gold, nine silver, and eleven bronze awards, MBC Group was the single participant picking up the largest total number of awards, up against nominations from 168 different networks the likes of ABC, BBC Worldwide, CBS Television, FOX and National Geographic.

'The MBC Creative Services team is just thrilled that so much of our work has been recognized as absolutely world class by the judging panel at this year's awards,' says Fadel Zahreddine, MBC Group Director of Creative Services.

'The whole TV viewing experience is about much more than just the content featured, which is why we spend so much time, energy and creative talent at MBC Group to brand and package our content in a visually stimulating way. We work hard to create the best 'home' for both programs and brands - offering a channel environment second to none.'

"We saw an amazing array of design work among the competitors this year," said Lee Hunt, the interim managing director of Promax/BDA.

"Designers are continuing to push the creative envelope in producing extraordinary images that grab the viewers' attention while also telling a very important visual story for the networks and programming these designs represent."

In addition to the Gold, Silver and Bronze statues, award recipients will also have their winning entries added to the permanent collection of Promax/BDA media at the United States Library of Congress as part of The Robert Neer Promax/BDA Promos TV Collection, containing over 6,900 winning promotional spots from Promax/BDA competitions worldwide since 1999.

The Arab Media Forum has honoured Sheikh Waleed Bin Ibrahim Al-Ibrahim, Chairman and CEO of the MBC Group for his contribution to the development of the professionalism and success of the Arab media.

The AMF announced its decision last week in Amman, Jordan.

Ali Al-Hedeithy, MBC Group Director General, received the award on behalf of Sheikh Waleed from the Prime Minster of Jordan, Dr Ma’roof Bakhit.

The award was determined by a poll in which more than 2000 Arab media professionals participated to select those who have contr
ibuted to the positive development of Arab media.

Commenting on the award, Sheikh Waleed said, “It reflects the professionalism of MBC’s approach to broadcasting, and the leading role MBC has played in the progress of Arab media throughout the region.”

Sheikh Waleed confirmed that MBC Group remains committed to better performance, and will continue to provide new and innovative media options according to audience demand and the subsequent strategies developed by the Group.

“MBC has been able to successfully build a portfolio of bra s without cannabilizing our flagship – MBC1. Ultimately, we’ve done what every other broadcaster in the region wants to do: diversify our offering to grow market share by delivering quality content, viewer reach and relationship and continuing consistent growth in ratings,” concluded Sheikh Waleed.

Hedeithy expressed his pride in accepting the award on behalf of Sheikh Waleed and stated that, “He has a clear vision of the future of the media industry and this is reflected clearly in the professional performance of the group.”

In 2006, Sheikh Waleed was awarded the “Knight of the Arab Media’ award by the Arab League for his role in the Arab media industry.