Issue 9 2019

30 CEO MONTHLY / ISSUE 10 2019 , - MBC Group is the largest and leadingmedia company in theMiddle East &North Africa (MENA) region. Following the success of the Group’s CEO, SamBarnett, in the 2019 CEO of the Year programme, we take a closer look to find out more about the meteoric rise of this media leviathan. Though MBC Group was originally established in London, in 1991, it has seen extraordinary growth since relocating to Dubai in 2002. Indeed, since then and over the last seventeen years, the group has become an undisputed leader, both in the MENA region and the Media industry, inspired by the media visionary Chairman Waleed Al Ibrahim and spurred on by CEO Sam Barnett. Today, MBC Group spans 18 top-rated TV channels, including MBC1 and MBC4 – which offer general family entertainment; the English-language, film-focused MBC2 and MBC MAX; children’s network MBC3; MBC MASR and MBC MASR2, which offer general family entertainment geared towards Egyptian families and MBC Iraq serving Iraqi families, among other channels and offerings. Original content is also at the core of operations, with MBC Studios producing the region’s most compelling premium content for cinema, television and on-demand platforms. Perhaps this explains how MBC Group has grown to become an undisputed media conglomerate – with an intense dedication to diversity and cultural variety. Barnett echoes this most fundamental of ethos, describing the Group’s company culture as a deeply “enriching atmosphere”, driven by people who are