Dubai-based CEO Sam Barnett leads the Middle East’s largest broadcaster MBC as it turbocharges its Shahid streaming service through a scripted content drive, and gives Netflix a run for its money.

Shortly before the holy month of Ramadan, which is marathon TV time in the Arab world, Barnett spoke to Variety about the still crucial relevance of Ramadan season in luring eyeballs, MBC’s need to offer “interesting new types of content” outside of the holy period, and why the company remains resolutely pan-Arab while riding the wave of Saudi’s production boom.

There is a perception that MBC is becoming more “Saudi-centric” since it now plays an important role in Saudi’s drive to become a major content producer. Can you talk to me about how this shift is playing out in your overall production strategy?

MBC has always played a major role in the media in the Kingdom, and that’s continuing. What’s happening in Saudi is – with the opening up and the evolution of production and the diversification of the economy away from oil – there’s a greater focus on building industrial ecosystems in all sorts of different sectors. And naturally, MBC is accommodating these developments in media. 

But I don’t think it’s correct to say MBC has changed our strategy, or that we’ve suddenly become Saudi-centric. We are playing a role in the development of media in Saudi, as we have done for many years. But I don’t want to give the impression that MBC has suddenly become a local Saudi broadcaster.

Tell me more about MBC’s pan-Arab scope

I’ll give you a few examples. The largest show that I think has ever been on an OTT in the Middle East is a show called “Heera.” It’s an Iraqi soap opera and it’s hit the ball out of the stadium in terms of all the other numbers we’ve ever seen.

We’ve just done Season 2 of “Casa Street” in Morocco. Again, probably one of the largest and most popular series in Morocco. And in Egypt, we have probably our biggest drama in Ramadan, a show called “Al Aghar” with Amr Saad, and we have out a normal prank show with Ramez Galal. That’s important because Egypt is going through economic challenges at the moment. But we are doubling down there. And we are still number one there and have made a commitment to Egypt. So we are still as Pan-Arab as we ever were. Our biggest content on air right now is called “Al Thaman” (produced in Lebanon and Turkey) which is an “Indecent Proposal”-like story, but over 150 episodes. It’s a pan-Arab product and it’s as popular in Musket as it is in Marrakesh. And it also works very well in Saudi. 

What are some of your other big productions at the moment? I think at least some of them are being made in Saudi

Well, we just finished shooting “Mu’awiya,” which is a show set in the past, in the time of Islam and the Prophet. That’s actually been shot in Tunisia but is probably one of our largest shows ever and will be hugely significant when it goes on air.