Viacom, the owners of MTV Networks International, has reclaimed operational control of its two joint ventures with Arab Media Group, MTV Arabia and Nickelodeon Arabia, according to AMG's chief executive, Mohammed al Mulla. "As of now, both channels are on the air, and they are part of AMG Group, but they thing that has happened in terms of the operational management is that they are being run by Viacom directly," Mr al Mulla said. Viacom came in to run the stations last autumn, he said, adding that AMG staff are still working under Viacom operational management in Dubai. MTV Arabia was launched to much fanfare in November of 2007. According to , AMG pulled off a coup the previous year when it outbid MBC group to land the MTV licence for $6 million for five years. Nickelodeon Arabia was launched later that year as the region's first free-to-air children's channel. Abdullatif al Sayegh, the former chief executive of AMG who engineered the deals, as chief executive of the company this month. The move was announced to AMG staff last week.