Dubai TV vs Abu Dhabi TV

drawing audiences to the station’s revamped grid. Production giant Endemol, the Dutch television company behind the popular Big Brother reality series, inked its first deal last November with reality-TV heavyweight gamer “Ton of Cash,” which has aired since the beginning of October. Shows “Top of the Flops” and “Divided” (due in May) followed. Local Abu Dhabi Al Emarat should also get a new focus soon, with more shows produced locally.

Thanks to these successive strategic moves, Abu Dhabi TV has jumped in Arab satellite channels rankings from 20th to seventh or eighth in just a few months, according to Endemol Middle East head Ziad Kebbe.

To add insult to injury, ADMC’s station just launched a new channel, Plus One, right in time for Ramadan. By running the same program as Abu Dhabi TV one hour later, ADMC wants to attract viewers by offering them the chance to watch its programs while breaking their fast.

But Dubai TV isn’t watching idly. For Ramadan, it struck back by airing “Siraa Ala Al” (Struggle In The Sands), an 18th-century epic based around the poems of Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum and produced for a regional record-breaking $6 million. It also acquired from Endemol a 13-episode run of “The Kids Are Alright,” slated to debut in May.

Both stations are poised for a serious bout of arm wrestling. But the question remains to whether, being so closed tied to their own governments, they are fit for survival in an increasingly competitive environment.