MBC adding Farsi channel

The satellite broadcaster MBC announces the launch of its latest channel, MBC Persia, which will be subtitled in Farsi.

The satellite broadcaster MBC's latest channel, MBC Persia, will be subtitled in Farsi.

DUBAI // The satellite broadcaster MBC this week announced the launch of its latest channel, MBC Persia, which will be subtitled in Farsi. The new film channel, which starts broadcasting around the clock on July 9, will be the first channel to schedule, package and subtitle films specifically for the region's fast-growing Farsi-speaking audience. There are estimated to be more than 24 million Farsi speakers worldwide.

Mazen Hayek, MBC's director of marketing and PR, said the channel was "a great new addition to our existing portfolio of leading brands, consistent with our commitment to bringing the best in global entertainment to the region. "Targeting the Farsi-speaking community also reflects our strategic policy to launch specialised and customised channels that cater for specific audience demographics, preferences and needs, with the objective to further improve viewers' overall TV entertainment experience."

The channel will be transmitted on Nilesat and Arabsat. MBC's portfolio of channels includes MBC1 (family entertainment), MBC2 (24-hour movies), MBC3 (children's entertainment), MBC4 (entertainment for Arab women), MBC Action (action series and movies) and Al Arabiya (the 24-hour Arabic-language news channel). MBC is the latest broadcaster to add Farsi to its portfolio. In 2006, the BBC announced it was to launch a channel for Iran.

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