MBC 3
MBC 3 | |
---|---|
Launched | April 7, 2003 |
Owned by | Middle East Broadcasting Center |
Picture format |
1080i (HDTV) 576i (SDTV) |
Broadcast area |
Middle East North Africa Pakistan United Kingdom Italy Russia Germany |
Headquarters | United Arab Emirates |
Sister channel(s) |
MBC 1 MBC 2 MBC 4 MBC Drama MBC Action MBC Max MBC Persia Al Arabiya Wanasah MBC Bollywood MBC MASR |
Website | http://mbc3.mbc.net/ |
Availability | |
Satellite | |
Badr-5 (Maghreb) |
|
Badr-7 (Persian Gulf & Levant) |
|
Eutelsat 7WA (Maghreb) |
|
Eutelsat 8WB (Arabian Golf & Levant) |
|
OSN (MENA) | Channel 368 (SD) |
Cable | |
Numericable (France) | Channel 630 (SD) |
Mozaic TV (Qatar) | Channel 12 (SD) |
IPTV | |
Freebox TV (France) | Channel 672 (SD) |
MT Box (Morocco) | Channel 55 (SD) |
MBC 3 is an Emirati-based kids channel that was launched on 7 April, 2003 as a free-to-air television network. It is owned by Middle East Broadcasting Center, and appeals to children from 3 to 13 years old. The channel focuses on local production in Arabic while also airing imported programming. Some of the main primetime productions of the channel include Eish Safari (a children's adventure show), Tasali Ahla Alam (game show with MBC3 presenters broadcast live), Banat Wa Bass (a talk show appealing to young girls) and Soccer Academy among many others.
MBC 3 started airing Nick shows including Victorious, iCarly, Sam and Cat, The Thundermans and Drake & Josh following the closure of Nickelodeon Arabia in 2011. (These shows air in English with Arabic subtitles). Nicktoons, such asT.U.F.F. Puppy, The Fairly OddParents and SpongeBob SquarePants are also present in the channel. The Nick Jr. shows including Dora the Explorer, Go Diego Go and Blue's Room.
Censorship
Despite being a channel intended for children, MBC 3 ironically has the highest level of censorship of all its sister channels, mainly to protect the morality of its audience, whom are mostly minors raised under Islamic teachings. Most of the censored content are usually featured uncut on MBC Group's other channels. Censors often apply to certain "adult topics" found in all broadcast productions, whether it is animated or live-action. These include cuts of any form of visual romance outside of marriage (even if considered child-friendly) as well as even mentions of such relations, the mildest of kissing scenes (pecking between family members is often retained), awkward angles of female characters in very skimpy outfits (although showing of skimpy outfits is generally retained in casual scenes), sensual scenes between members of the opposite sex even if they are mere friends, most scenes of comically cross-dressed males, all references to alcohol and gambling, explicit and visual references to non-Islamic religious content, which even includes holy people, places, and habits (although rare mentions are retained), and visually grotesque scenes (such as animal scat and farm pigs in the mud). Most of the romantic cuts are usually applied to human or human-like characters, as romance between realistic animals is often retained.
Despite all mentioned cuts, MBC 3 does not seem to have a proper consensus for such censors. Some productions, such as certain films or television episodes with extensive romance themes, feature cuts that are so heavy it absurdly renders the plot continuities as nonsense. There are also occasional cases of cuts that have no explanation behind them. In fact, not everything featured on MBC 3 is censored, such as classic cartoons (which usually function as in-betweeners) like Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies, feature little to no cuts whatsoever. Additionally, all productions related to Tom and Jerry, whether as the classic cartoons or newer productions such as Tom and Jerry Tales, feature no censorship at all (at least, no censorship applied by MBC 3, as some of their classic cartoon prints feature censors issued officially by Cartoon Network).
Programming
- Victorious
- iCarly
- Sam and Cat
- Ned's Declassified
- Drake & Josh
- T.U.F.F. Puppy
- The Fairly OddParents
- SpongeBob SquarePants
- Dora the Explorer
- Go Diego Go
- Blue's Room
- Edgar & Ellen
- Yu-Gi-Oh!
- Yu-Gi-Oh! GX
- Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's
- Digimon Fusion
- Shaun the Sheep
- Astro Boy
- Speed Racer: The Next Generation
- Sonic X
- Sonic Boom
- Jackie Chan Adventures
- Totally Spies!
- The Amazing Spiez!
- Martin Mystery
- Kimba the White Lion
- The New Adventures of Kimba The White Lion
- Captain Biceps
- Kate & Mim-Mim
- Xiaolin Showdown
- Littlest Pet Shop
- Julius Jr.
- Power Rangers Megaforce
- Power Rangers Samurai
- Super Wings
- Zack and Quack
- Peg + Cat
- Cory in the House
- That's So Raven
- The Suite Life of Zack and Cody
- Bubble Guppies
Movies
Disney
- The Lion King
- Oliver and Company
- 101 Dalmatians
- Frozen
- Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs
- Cinderella Story
- The Aristocats
- The Fox and the Hound
- Zootopia
- Brave
- Phineas and Ferb