Arabic deal for Top of the Pops

Hot on the heels of BBC Worldwide's Top of the Pops format deal in France last month comes a similar deal putting an Arabic version of the show on-air across the entire Middle East region.

Dubai-based international satcaster MBC began airing its own version of TOTP last night on its entertainment channel MBC-2. Fronted by Arab celeb Razan, the show airs as a stand-alone segment of her weekly Razmania show. It comprises links shot in both Beirut and London plus clips from the UK version.

The second phase of MBC's reversion of the 39-year-old format begins in November. A fully-localised show will launch, featuring Arab artists and a specially-launched Arab pop chart.

{Our youth audience is one of the keys to our success,{ said MBC's Mamdouh Abougabal. {Just like English viewers, they have a passion for music.{

Local versions of the TOTP format have so far been licensed to RTL Germany, France2, BNN Holland, JimTV in Belgium and Rai2 in Italy. The UK version airs in a further 112 territories.

Long sought after by BBC Worldwide, a US version of the format was piloted by the WB Network in September 2001, based on the Billboard Hot 100. It didn't go to series.