“Pimp My Ride will return after the call to prayer.” At midnight tonight a potential audience of 36 million households can tune in to MTV Arabia, the most ambitious venture yet in the youth brand’s mission to unite the globe through pop culture.

The American rapper Ludacris and the soul star Akon will launch the channel at a glittering Dubai show-case, but there will be none of the licentious lyrics and flesh-baring videos that mark out its sister Western channels.

“We will respect our audience’s culture and upbringing without diluting the essence of MTV,” Bhavneet Singh, managing director of emerging markets, MTV Networks International, says. “Everything will be tasteful. What is acceptable in Egypt might not be so in Jedda.”

It is a tricky tightrope for the Viacom-owned network to maintain, despite its experience of broadcasting 141 channels in 32 languages to 160 countries. Overseas growth is considered vital because Viacom’s flagship US MTV channel has suffered a ratings fall and the network has struggled to make an impact online.

There are more than 50 music channels in the region. MTV will attempt to wrest dominance from Rotana, owned by Prince Alwaleed, the Saudi businessman, which also operates the Middle East’s largest record label and has exclusive contracts with most top-selling artists.

The rewards could be great for Viacom because two thirds of the Arab world is younger than 30 and they are hungry for cutting-edge music, especially hip-hop.

“We will have shows presented by local stars, such as Jeddah Legends,” Mr Singh says. “The lyrical themes found in Arab hip-hop are not so different to the rest of the world. It’s about hanging out at the mall but also about your parents wanting you to marry when you aren’t ready yet.”

MTV favourites such as Pimp My Ride and the practical joke show Punk’d will be amended for Arab audiences, but the scatological South Park would be too controversial, Mr Singh concedes. Culturally sensitive editors will make cuts to contentious Western videos, although local artists will account for 40 per cent of the music aired.

Mr Singh says that a strengthening of the region’s economy has prompted an explosion of programming aimed at cash-rich young Arabs. The MBC satellite network has launched a channel aimed at males aged 18 to 24. Star Academy, the region’s version of Pop Idol, attracted seven million text-message votes and topped the ratings.

But isn’t MTV a symbol of American cultural imperialism for an audience still angered by the invasion of Iraq? “We asked our focus group where they thought MTV came from,” Mr Singh says. “The most popular answers were Europe and India. It is not perceived as an American brand.”

MTV has signed a deal with Arab Media Group to secure the channel a satellite footprint across the Middle East. A web and mobile version will complement the television, and Viacom will also present an Arab version of its Nickelodeon children’s channel. MTV Networks cut 250 jobs this year in an attempt to improve margins, but its expansion plans continue apace with a Hindi-language channel to be launched for the Indian market.

Ironically, MTV Arabia reflects the pioneering spirit of the network at its inception 26 years ago, before the flagship channel became a vehicle for dating shows and cliché-ridden R&B videos. Mr Singh says: “We want to break the stereotypical image of Middle East youth. I want to take the best new rappers from a basement in Egypt and put them on the first MTV Arabia international awards show, shown across all our outlets.” But the MTV mission remains the same, whether you are in Damascus or Darlington. Mr Singh says: “If I can find a kid on the corner in a small Middle East city who says: ‘I love my MTV’, then my job is done.”

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