The New Year see’s TV’s Most Popular Shows Premiere Exclusively on OSN

American Idol, Awake, Carrie Diaries, 2 Broke Girls and Homeland ring in the New Year Exclusively on OSN

Dubai, December 26, 2012: January promises to be an exciting month as some of TV’s most popular shows return to the region, exclusively on OSN, the leading pay-TV network in the Middle East and North Africa. Highly acclaimed singing reality show American Idol Season 12, new hit series Awake and Carrie Diaries, and Homeland are just a few among the stellar line-up on OSN First HD/OSN First, set to keep viewers glued to their TV screens.

One of the highest rated shows in television history, American Idol returns to the region with a star studded line up on January 17th – just hours after it airs live in the USA. This season’s celebrity judging panel includes music’s biggest divas, Mariah Carey and Nicki Minaj, along with country music sensation, Keith Urban. Randy Jackson also returns as a judge and Ryan Seacrest will reprise his role as the face and voice of the hit show. American Idol airs on Thursdays and Fridays at 21:00 UAE time on OSN First HD/ OSN First.

The highly anticipated prequel to the runaway success, Sex and the City, The Carrie Diaries is set to take viewers on a trip back down memory lane. The main character, Carrie Bradshaw, returns to the small screen as her high school career is chronicled. Set in the 1980s, this nostalgic show is sure to be a hit with anyone who fell in love with Carrie’s quirky personality. The Carrie Diaries airs January 16th at 23:00 UAE time exclusively on OSN First HD/ OSN First.

The new hit series, Awake, premieres in the Arab World with a storyline set to confuse even the cleverest of fans. A car accident leaves Michael Britten, a detective with the LA Police Department, living two parallel lives – one in which his wife survives the accident and the other in which his child survives. Not knowing which life is ‘real’, he is forced to determine his true reality piece by piece. Awake airs 5th of January at 21:00 exclusively on OSN First HD/OSN First.

Rounding up January’s headliners is the Emmy award-winning thriller, Homeland, returning for its second season exclusively on OSN. Picking up after the explosive conclusion of the first season, Homeland’s season premiere shows viewers how life has evolved for the main characters. Sergeant Brody is now a congressman while the paranoid CIA agent, Carrie Mathison, is an English teacher. However, it does not take long for each character’s past to hunt them down and force them to reluctantly resume their dangerous secret lives. Homeland Season 2 premieres on January 8th at 21:00 UAE time on OSN First HD/ OSN First.

Other series to look forward to on OSN First HD/OSN First include new series Banshee and The Finder, Season 8 of the ever popular Criminal Minds, Season 4 premiere of Drop Dead Diva, Eureka returns with Season 5 and last but not the least fuel heads can look forward to Season 19 of Top Gear UK and Season 3 of Top Gear US.

If you’re up for laugh out loud brand new comedy series to keep you entertained, you’re in the right place. OSN Comedy brings you new series The Neighbors, Unsupervised and the Mindy Project. In addition make way for the top rated How I Met Your Mother which returns with Season 8 and Two and a Half Men is back with its tenth season this January. Plus, Season 2 of the popular series 2 Broke Girls and Breaking In are also back.

Watch it first this New Year as OSN brings you the very best of TV entertainment exclusively for its viewers across the region. For more information on OSN’s January specials, visit www.osn.com.

In addition to premiering some of the biggest, latest and award winning programmes, OSN will launch five new channels going live from January 1st. Adding to OSN’s existing exclusive offering the new channel line-up includes two premium HD Arabic channels – OSN Ya Hala Shabab HD and OSN Ya Hala Arabella HD, as well as three new and exclusive English channels – Discovery World, Fuel TV and Fine Living.

OSN is the ultimate destination for the widest choice of brand new premium Western, Arabic and Filipino entertainment in the Middle East and Africa. OSN is the home of 100 channels filled with great value entertainment, offering viewers in the MENA region exclusive access to the latest blockbuster movies, top rated series, sports, documentaries, news, kid’s entertainment and live talk shows. The movie offering includes over a 100 uncut and uninterrupted movie premieres a month so viewers can watch them the way they were meant to be watched.

OSN boasts the most comprehensive portfolio of exclusive rights from all the major studios including Warner Brothers, Paramount, Fox, Disney, Sony, MGM, Universal and DreamWorks and offers access to the worlds leading television brands including Disney channel, Sky News, Discovery Network and Nat Geo.

As the leader in innovation, OSN has changed the TV viewing experience by bringing quality entertainment through 36 High Definition channels and is currently the only network offering a full HD bouquet of channels as well as 3D entertainment in the region. OSN was the first to launch the DVR, the OSN Showbox HD; the regions first online TV platform, OSN Play; the regions first 3D, HD, internet enabled satellite receiver and recorder, OSN Plus HD and the region’s first VOD service, OSN on Demand offering viewers the opportunity to watch over 1000 movies and 52 latest seasons of the top series, all available in full HD quality and Dolby Digital sound.

September 2012 saw the launch of OSN’s first rewards programme, OSN Privileges, offering subscribers money can’t buy experiences, special offers and premium prizes all year round.

The OSN platform is owned and operated by Panther Media Group Limited; a company registered in DIFC, and is owned by Mawarid Group Limited and KIPCO.