'Hydra Executives' rakes in top ratings

'HYDRA EXECUTIVES': Reality TV show featuring Dr Sulaiman Al Fahim, proves a major hit with viewers.

'Hydra Executives', the brand new English reality-based series that pits a team of eight American contenders against a group of eight British rivals, has raked in top ratings with its pilot episode, and is continuously breaking viewership records as the show’s drama and excitement build up week after week.

Critics have been lauding the show - featuring Dr Sulaiman Al Fahim, CEO, Hydra Properties - for introducing the concept of reality TV, which can potentially change the face of entertainment television in the Middle East.

The program, which debuted on January 07, 2009, features a team of eight American contenders and a group of eight British rivals and the challenges they undertake to win a business grant worth $1 million.

With a total of four contestants eliminated - one from the UK Team and three from the US Team - the Brits are trying to keep the momentum of their early success, while the Americans are working harder to beat their opponents despite the disadvantage of being two team members short.

All the tasks so far have presented the contenders with daunting challenges, which make it all the more exciting to see who will emerge as the first-ever ‘Hydra Executive’ in the season’s 23 remaining episodes.

The show is being aired on two different timeslots - every Wednesday at 7 PM and at 11 PM on Showtime and Infinity TV. A delayed telecast of the show's latest episodes also airs every Tuesday on Hollywood.TV and Emirates TV.

“The real estate market in the UAE has one major advantage - it’s so new! There is so much enthusiasm for new technology, and I believe there’s an amazing opportunity, especially here in Abu Dhabi, to place an emphasis on green buildings and renewable energy,” said Hannah Dodkin, a Business Development Executive, and part of the UK Team. “

When I first met Dr. Sulaiman Al Fahim, I knew instinctively that this opportunity was the right one for me. I had never interacted with an Arab businessman and I was excited about the prospect of working with him. I did not hesitate to be on the show, I was given the chance to improve myself and my life through this new experience.”

The Americans can talk the talk but we can walk the walk,” said Sara Millinder, a TV presenter and buy-to-let property investor, and part of the UK Team.

“I believe in giving people opportunities - a chance to fulfil their dreams. ‘Hydra Executives’ is not just another reality TV show - it is about how the UAE is a land filled with opportunities and how people from two different cultures can best utilise this opportunity of a lifetime.

“I am very proud of the accomplishment of this show in terms of providing a new dimension to Arab entertainment, and I am looking forward to its continued success as I expect more intense drama to unfold in the coming episodes,” concluded Dr. Al Fahim.

Hydra Executives is telecast with complete Arabic subtitles, and is being supported by a list of high profile sponsors, including Range Rover, General Motors, Blackberry, Etisalat, ASUS, Panasonic and Debenhams.

At present, Hydra Executives Season 2 is well under its filming stages, with two teams of Indian and Pakistani entrepreneurs battling it out for the top prize.

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READERS' COMMENTS

Making the problem worse ...
Posted by KS on Saturday 28 March 2009 at 14:43 UAE time


Malek, they already have an Indian and Pakistani team lined up for the second season. The problem is that the teams are exclusively Indian and exclusively Pakistani. This is a country of multinational-hiring companies, so what good can it do to put citizens of different countries, especially geopolitical rivals and sporadic belligerents, in separate teams? Creating a team of exclusively UAE nationals will be even worse for the harmony that this country (hopefully) wishes to foster. What they need to do is completely mix up, rather than deliberately segregate nationalities. I hope the team producing this show realizes that.

Building
Posted by Asad Hafiz, Dubai, UAE on Saturday 28 March 2009 at 10:07 UAE time


Hi Isabella
The construction business has gone for a toss. Hydra is radically diversifying into reality TV this is the best plan the Hydra advisory team came up with. You got to give them credit for radically driving the attention from their construction projects to reality TV

Good show concept, bad team concept
Posted by KS on Friday 27 March 2009 at 11:49 UAE time


I like the idea of the show in general, but I do not like the idea of pitting different nationalities against one another.

Firstly, from the perspective of the show, it prevents mobility of manpower, as one can change one's company but not one's nationality. Sometimes, I wonder if a team has been given a pink slip not because they did badly but because they have too many members compared to the other. Such a situation would force the producers to balance out teams headcounts.

More importantly, though, remember than in the UAE, different nationalities have to work together. The Indians and Pakistanis are strongly represented in the UAE population, and given the historical and present-day rivalries between the two countries, this is a dish that will leave a bad aftertaste for sure. The one task the Indians and Pakistanis competed in really disgusted me in terms of the brutality of the competition and vitriol exchanged at the helipad. If anything, rather than being motivated by nationalism, being able to work with people from different countries ought to be considered an asset in this part of the world. I hope Dr Fahim sees that soon, and mixes up the teams (preferably by surprise).

Cursing on daytime tv??
Posted by Skeptical, Dubai on Sunday 1 March 2009 at 08:57 UAE time


I was changing television channels the other morning and saw a few minutes of the Hydra Executives show. I could not believe what I was hearing. The loud mouthed woman on the American team was dropping "F-bombs" and the words were not "bleeped" by censors. Why not? Can someone explain to me what the standards are for what is acceptable language on television in the Middle East?? What if a mother was changing channels in front of her children and this was the language the children were hearing? Unbelievable!

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