MBC 3
 | |
| 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) |
|---|---|
| Network | Middle East Broadcasting Center |
| Headquarters | Riyadh, Saudi Arabia |
| Programming | |
| Language(s) | English Arabic (dubbing and subtitles) |
| Picture format | 1080i (HDTV) (downscaled to 16:9 576i for the SDTV feed) |
| Timeshift service | MBC 3 +1 |
| Ownership | |
| Owner | MBC Group |
| Sister channels | MBC 1 MBC 2 MBC 4 MBC 5 MBC Drama MBC Action MBC Max MBC Persia Al Arabiya Wanasah Al Hadath MBC+ Power MBC Variety HD MBC Bollywood MBC Masr MBC Masr 2 MBC Iraq SSC |
| History | |
| Launched | 8 December 2004 |
| Links | |
| Website | mbc3 |
MBC 3 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 are dubbed into Arabic. The channel also produces its own original programmes. It was owned by the Middle Eastern company MBC Group.
MBC 3 started airing Nickelodeon shows since 21 November 2010. 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 also dubbed in Arabic. The Nick Jr. Channel shows include LazyTown, Go Diego Go, The Backyardigans, Dora the Explorer, Ni Hao, Kai-Lan, Little Bill, Team Umizoomi 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. On 27 November 2010, during an airing of The Nightmare Before Christmas, MBC 3 cut parts of the movie which caused a lot of controversy.[citation needed]
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. There is also a separate feed available on the Shahid streaming service, with a different schedule from the other feeds.
History
The channel was launched on 8 December 2004 at 10:00 am, the branding for the channel was designed by UK design house Turquoise.
On 8 December 2005, the channel was given a rebranding to coincide with its 1st anniversary, along with a new mascot, a green cube named “Cubee”, the new look was designed by German animation studio LIGA 01 Computerfilm and is considered to be the most iconic look of the channel.[1]
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 and it is currently used alongside the previous bumpers.[citation needed]
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.[citation needed]
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.) [citation needed]