CBS Paramount Sets Middle Eastern Deal

HOLLYWOOD, July 15: CBS
Paramount and Dubai-based Middle East Broadcasting Center (MBC) have finalized
a multi-year deal to air new shows like 90210 and returning programs, including NCIS, Medium and Numb3rs.

New programs to air on MBC
as part of the deal are Harper’s Island, Worst Week, The
Cleaner and 90210. The Doctors, which premieres in the U.S. this fall, will also be broadcast on the
pan-Arab, free-to-air satellite channel. The agreement sees Late Show with
David Letterman moving to MBC as
well.

“MBC has been a great
partner with our CBS News programming and daily strip shows such as Dr. Phil and The Oprah Winfrey Show and we are pleased to be able to expand this
relationship,” commented Armando Nuñez, Jr., the president of CBS Paramount International
Television.

“We are delighted to
conclude this deal with CBS Paramount,” added Tim Riordan, the group TV
director at MBC. “It means that we have secured new CBS shows for years to come
on a first-to-television basis and it means that viewers in the Middle East
will be able to see these shows soon after they come out in the U.S. It also
confirms our long-term relationship with The Oprah Winfrey Show.”

—By Kristin
Brzoznowski