19th MARCH 2014

TV industry joins forces to launch region’s first ‘Anti-Piracy Coalition’

OSN, MPA, MBC Group, du, STN, JMC, Nilesat, Arabsat, Noorsat, Eutelsat, and Viewsat to raise awareness about the impact of piracy on the region’s broadcast industry ‘Anti-Piracy Coalition’ will monitor, inform and lobby against pirates

Dubai, UAE; March 19, 2014: Marking a regional first, leading broadcasters, satellite operators and service providers across the MENA have joined forces under the ‘Anti-Piracy Coalition,’ to address and combat all forms of piracy that impact the sector.

Key industry players including OSN, Motion Picture Association of America (MPA), MBC Group, du, STN, JMC, Nilesat, Arabsat, Noorsat, Eutelsat, and Viewsat will work alongside content owners, distributors, satellite owners, satellite service providers, and advertisers, to raise awareness about the impact of piracy on the region’s burgeoning television industry.

Driven by a common goal to protect intellectual property rights, members of the ‘Anti-Piracy Coalition’ have outlined a voluntary code of conduct, while publically associating themselves as active representatives of the coalition. The ‘Anti-Piracy Coalition’ will monitor piracy on satellite TV, ensure information about pirate channels is shared among legitimate industry players and coordinate action against the pirates.

David Butorac, Chief Executive Officer, OSN, said: “The region’s television landscape has evolved significantly, and this growth has been spurred by the creation of original content. Intellectual Property Crime is not a victimless crime. It inhibits the capacity for companies like ours to invest to create a viable and robust entertainment industry, something this region deserves. Through the ‘Anti-Piracy Coalition,’ we will work with leaders from the industry and carry out a concerted effort to crack down on piracy.”

Within the same context, Sam Barnett, Chief Executive Officer, MBC Group, added: “Pirate channels are stealing hundreds of movies a week and broadcasting them across tens of millions of homes. But, the really surprising fact is that a few otherwise respectable companies are assisting and supporting them to do this. Our coalition will help raise awareness of the issue, galvanise support from the legitimate industry and hopefully make life tougher for the pirates.”

While several broadcasters have been active in contributing to the fight against piracy, the formation of the ‘Anti-Piracy Coalition’ underlines the growing need to address the effects of piracy in all forms.

Previously, piracy had been seen to affect pay-TV operators, however today, the entire broadcast industry in the Middle East and North Africa are at risk. The ‘Anti-Piracy Coalition’ will adopt an all-inclusive approach - working with willing Satellite operators, advertisers, studios and broadcasters to stop the pirate channels.

About OSN:

OSN is the ultimate destination for the widest choice of brand new premium Western, Arabic, South Asian (Hindi, Urdu, Bengali, Malayalam and Tamil) and Filipino entertainment in the Middle East and Africa. OSN is the home of nearly 140 channels filled with great value entertainment, offering viewers in the MENA region exclusive access to the latest blockbuster movies, top rated series, sports, documentaries, news, kid’s entertainment and live talk shows. The movie offering includes over a 100 uncut and uninterrupted movie premieres a month so viewers can watch them the way they were meant to be watched.

OSN boasts the most comprehensive portfolio of exclusive rights from all the major studios including Warner Brothers, Paramount, Fox, Disney, Sony, MGM, Universal, HBO and DreamWorks and offers access to the world’s leading television brands including Disney channel, Sky News, Discovery Network and Nat Geo. Launched in August 2013, OSN Pehla brings the best of Bollywood movies and premium cricket, including exclusive telecast rights of international tournaments such as the ICC Cricket World Cup and Indian cricket, through leading sports channels OSN Sports Cricket HD and Ten Cricket. As the leader in innovation, OSN has changed the TV viewing experience by bringing quality entertainment through 44 High Definition channels and is currently the only network offering a full HD bouquet of channels as well as 3D entertainment in the region. OSN was the first to launch the DVR, the OSN DVR HD; the regions first online TV platform, OSN Play; the regions first 3D, HD, internet enabled satellite receiver and recorder, OSN Plus HD and the region’s first VOD service, OSN on Demand offering viewers the opportunity to watch over 1000 movies and 52 latest seasons of the top series, all available in full HD quality and Dolby Digital sound. September 2012 saw the launch of OSN’s rewards programme, OSN Privileges, offering subscribers money can’t buy experiences, special offers and premium prizes all year round. The OSN platform is owned and operated by Panther Media Group Limited; a company registered in DIFC, and is owned by KIPCO and Mawarid Group Limited.

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 22 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 14 television channels: MBC1 (general family entertainment), MBC2 and MBC MAX (24-hour movies), MBC3 (children’s edutainment), MBC4 (entertainment for young families with women at its core), MBC Action (an indigenous adrenaline-packed channel with local and homegrown productions), MBC Variety (Western general entertainment and movie channel broadcasting uninterrupted premium films and series) , Al Arabiya (the 24-hour Arabic language news channel); Al Arabiya Al Hadath (an extension of Al Arabiya News Channel); Wanasah (24-hour Arabic music channel); MBC DRAMA (24/7 Arabic Drama); MBC MASR (general family entrainment channel geared towards the Egyptian family), and MBC + Drama (paid channel on OSN) and MBC Bollywood (delivering the freshest in Bollywood content geared towards the region via an Arabized interface).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 production unit. Furthermore, the Group includes online platforms: www.mbc.net, www.alarabiya.net, www.shahid.net (the first free VOD and catch up portal in the Arab world) and www.actionha.net, among others. As of July 2011, seven of MBC Group’s channels began to air in HD across the MENA Region: MBC 1 HD, MBC 2 HD, MBC 4 HD, MBC Action HD, MBC Drama HD, MBC Max HD and Al Arabiya HD News Channel. In 2013, MBC 3 HD was added to this bouquet, and in 2014 MBC Variety was also added.