MUMBAI: Television format creator and distributor FremantleMedia Enterprises (FME) has opened its first office in the Middle East.

Anahita Kheder, VP for Middle East, has been appointed to head the new office, which will be based in Dubai.

Kheder will report to FME executive VP licensing Europe, Middle East and Africa Mark Newton.

She will work closely with SVP distribution ? Southern Europe, Middle East and Africa Jamie Lynn.

The office aims to offer consolidated content packages to broadcasters in the region and maximise ancillary rights for FME‘s extensive content portfolio, with a focus on formats, kids and family entertainment and non-TV properties.

MBC Group, the region‘s broadcaster, and the first private free-to-air satellite broadcasting company in the Arab World, will launch a local version of FremantleMedia and 19TV‘s Idols format later this year.

Kheder is currently working closely with both MBC Group and its commercial arm AMS (Arabian Media Services) to secure globally brand sponsors for the series. Cross-media sponsorship deals have already been signed with General Motors, L‘Oreal, Pepsi and Mars.

Prior to joining FME, Kheder, who has over 11 years‘ experience working in the Middle East, held marketing positions within the music and sport industries before specialising in branded entertainment and entertainment marketing.

Her most recent experiences include IP portfolios across TV, music and sport with projects such as Paris Hilton‘s BFF Dubai, FREEJ, Lionel Messi, and regional recording artists.

Earlier this year, FME announced a multi-year deal with MBC Group in which it licensed the highly successful Idols format as well as the Got Talent format for an additional two seasons and completed a three-year volume deal on FME‘s tape catalogue. The first series of Arabs Got Talent debuted on MBC4 in January 2011, achieving higher ratings than any other talent show in the region.

In recent years MBC Group has broadcast a number of FME programmes such as ‘America‘s Got Talent‘, ‘Celebrity Apprentice‘, ‘Project Runway‘ and the drama series ‘Merlin‘.