I am delighted to report that, against all odds, the MEB Association, the publisher of this journal, succeeded in holding the first annual Middle East Broadcasters Conference and Exposition (MEB 2005) in Beirut, Lebanon. MEB 2005 hosted several exciting events. The conference sessions unleashed new ideas, lively debate, and even a bit of laughter as speakers and attendees wrestled with the major issues facing broadcasters today. Everyone who was part of these sessions reported great satisfaction with both the quality of the discussions and the organization of the conference.
MEB 2005 also held an exhibition that included broadcast technology companies, production houses, and media organizations. Among our attendees were senior engineers and managers from Algeria, Egypt, Iran, Iraq, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Oman, Palestine, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Syria, Tunisia, and the UAE as well as Europe, Japan and North America. We were extremely pleased to hear that a number of major international companies have already expressed their interest in participating in MEB 2006.
Many of our attendees took the chance to tour MEB-HD, the first HDTV station ever built in the Middle East. MEB-HD broadcast HD and SD simultaneously over ArabSat straight from the show floor. Almost 300 broadcasting students produced some fantastic programs including news shows, sports shows, children’s shows, talk shows, and even live cooking shows.
Capping off MEB 2005 was an elegant gala dinner announcing the MEB
annual awards ceremony and introducing the magnificent Mebby award.
At the dinner, the esteemed Elias Rahbani addressed an audience of over 500 special guests, including senior executives as well as actors, producers, and directors. Fabulous food, music and dancing were enjoyed by all.
We are very grateful to our sponsors Al Arabiya, ArabSat, Selevision, and the Monroe Hotel as well as all of the MEB-HD sponsors for their support in making this event a success. For a full report on MEB 2005, turn to page 30.
The MEB Association has received numerous requests to begin publishing the MEB Journal in Arabic. I am very proud to announce that, starting next month, the MEB Association will begin printing the first and only broadcasting magazine in the region that is available entirely in Arabic. This will not be a simple translation of the English version of the MEB Journal. The Arabic version of the journal will be specially designed and all of the articles will be carefully edited to ensure that nothing is lost in translation. We have already collected a large number of addresses of broadcast professionals who, upon hearing about the Arabic MEB Journal, jumped at the opportunity to begin a subscription. If you or your coworkers would like to begin receiving the MEB Journal in Arabic, please email This email address is being protected from spam bots, you need Javascript enabled to view it or call 961-1-989098.
As always, I encourage you to keep sending your comments, praise, and ideas about the MEB Journal to This email address is being protected from spam bots, you need Javascript enabled to view it . Let us know what we are doing right and how we can better serve you.
May 2006 bring you success and happiness.