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The video starts off with an ad from Kuwait TV in the 1980s, then moving on to the opening song to the then-popular kids show "Eftah Ya Sim Sim" - which is basically the Arabic version of "Sesame Street". During the late 1980s and up til the mid 1990s, Kuwait was the only country in the Gulf region that produced its own shows. In addition to "Al Amn w Al Salamah" (Security and Safety - regarding the road and traffic), and "Salamatak" (Your Health), "Eftah Ya Sim Sim" was produced by Kuwait TV but signed off as a production by the 6 GCC countries (Bahrain, Kuwait, KSA, Oman, Qatar and the UAE). Then moving onto the other available producing company at the time, which was located in Syria, the video then streams into yet another "then popular" kids educational show known as "Al Manahel" which was basically a fun approach to learning Arabic words and grammar. Based on these two locally-produced TV shows, it is obvious that the quality of the videos were quite poor, not to mention too simple and typical. The video then streams to the most important aspect of Arab media during the 1990s: International Influence. 4 videos are shown from 4 different parts of the world, starting with Japan's ridiculously famous adventure game show, "Takeshi's Castle". An Arabic voice-over was introduced to the show, and the name was changed to "Al Hisn" (meaning "The Castle") but the content was left unchanged. The next video is of another popular adventurous game show, but this time it's the UK's "Crystal Maze". Unlike the previous show, this one was left intact and was just borrowed then broadcasted on Arab TV channels in English. Another example of the European influence is a Dutch game show which was also dubbed into Arabic, and renamed "In Land, Sea and Air" where contestants were to build either a plane, boat, or some sort of automobile that would cross a certain distance, adhering to a specific set of rules. The final video portraying external influence is the "soap opera" like Mexican Telenovelas starring "Thalia". The one shown here is "Maria Mercedes" and was dubbed into modern-standard Arabic (unlike the Turkish series "Noor" ("Gumus") which was dubbed into the informal Mediterranean Arabic dialect) and aired on LBC during the 1990s. The "Then" part of the video ends here, and an ad for the newly-launched MBC Action is shown. MBC Action is part of the MBC (Middle-East Broadcasting Center) package, and was recently launched in 2007 upon the company's relocation from London to Dubai Media City, Dubai - UAE in 2002. Another video is streamed, but one from Dubai Sports, which is an ad from 2007 about the screening of the 18th Gulf football cup which was held in Abu Dhabi, "Khaleeji 18". After that, a simple commercial from Abu Dhabi TV is shown. Finally, the video ends with another simple commercial break from Al Jazeera. All these ads signify just how much the Arab world has evolved in terms of producing, and acquiring their own TV shows, programs and even advertisements. It is also quite noticeable that the video quality has also improve immensely, in comparison to the shows in the 1990s and 1980s. F. Alsaleh A. K. Samaan M. Ahli MCM 461 - American University of Sharjah December 2008