MBC 3
MBC Kids Now is a free-to-air children's channel launched on 8 December 2004, and appeals to children under the age of 15. All foreign television animated programs have been dubbed into Arabic. The channel also produces its own original programmes. It was owned by the Middle Eastern company MBC Group.
 | |
| Broadcast area | Middle East and North Africa (main audience free-to-air), Horn of Africa (peripheral free-to-air via satellite), United States and Europe (pay-TV) |
|---|---|
| Programming | |
| Language(s) | Arabic |
| Picture format | 1080i HDTV (downscaled to 16:9 576i for the SDTV feed) |
| Timeshift service | MBC 3 +1 |
| Ownership | |
| Owner | Middle East Broadcasting Center |
| History | |
| Launched | 5 September 2004 (as a programming block on MBC 1[1]) 8 December 2004 (as a channel) |
| Links | |
| Website | mbc3 |
MBC 3 started airing Nickelodeon shows following the closure of Nickelodeon Arabia in 2011. It includes Nicktoons such as T.U.F.F. Puppy, The Fairly OddParents and SpongeBob SquarePants are also present in the channel, but they are dubbed. The Nick Jr. Channel shows include LazyTown, Go Diego Go, The Backyardigans, Dora the Explorer, Little Bill, and Blue's Clues.
MBC 3 is known in the Middle East for censoring scenes unsuitable for Islamic audiences, such as visual romance outside of marriage, kissing before marriage scenes, awkward angles of female characters, sensual scenes between members of the opposite sex, cross-dressed men, references to alcohol and gambling, references to non-Islamic religious content and visually-grotesque scenes. However, the channel does not have a proper consensus of its censoring policy, featuring cuts that are so heavily edited it renders plot continuities inconsistent.
MBC 3 has separate pay-TV feeds which broadcast in Europe and the United States. They target the overseas Arab diaspora and air the same Arabic dubs as the main channel. The US feed is exclusive to Dish Network.
History
The channel was first announced on 28 August 2004.[2] The channel originally launched as a programming block on the main MBC 1 channel, but was also scheduled to launch as its own channel in November.[3]
On 2 December 2004. a promo for the channel was unveiled, revealing the channel’s branding, the promo even scheduled the channel to launch on 8 December 2004.[4]
The channel later officially launched on 8 December 2004 at 10:00 am, the branding for the channel was designed by UK design house Turquoise who also did the MBC 1 idents.[5]
On 8 December 2005, to celebrate its first anniversary, the channel was given a rebranding, along with a new mascot, a green cube named “Cubee” who later became the channel’s mascot to this day.[6]
The channel marked its tenth anniversary on 8 December 2014.
On 18 September 2017, the channel underwent a major rebrand to a comic strip background, in which on-screen imagery featured a comic book aesthetic. This is the current era of the channel.
On 23 March 2020, MBC 3 had a major rebrand with a new logo on-screen. The new logo was just like the modern logo but the number 3 is outside the cube.
From 24 March to 22 June 2020, following the COVID-19 pandemic, MBC 3 used a logo with a house displayed on-screen and slogans معاكم بالبيت (With you at home.)
