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Media & Advertising

Media and advertising news from the Middle East. All the important stories, exclusive interviews, plus authoritative opinion and analysis

Media & Advertising overview

Media & Advertising news

Dune Part Two, a Warner Bros film, has grossed more than $700m worldwide. Warner Bros Discovery is targeting the Mena streaming market

Warner Bros Discovery buys 30% stake in OSN Streaming

Warner Bros Discovery (WBD) has bought a stake in a subsidiary of Dubai-based satellite television company Orbit Showtime Network (OSN) Group, in an attempt to tap into the rapidly expanding Middle Eastern streaming market. The US-based media and entertainment conglomerate will acquire a 30 percent stake in OSN Streaming for KD17.5 million ($57 million), Kuwait […]

Redbird IMI ITV Coronation Street

UK’s ITV in sights of Abu Dhabi-backed RedBird IMI

RedBird IMI, the Abu Dhabi-backed US investment management company thwarted in its attempt to take control of the UK’s Telegraph newspaper group, has turned its attention to a deal involving the British broadcaster ITV. Discussions have taken place, according to reports, with a view to merging the business of ITV Studios with All3Media, which was […]

Nayla Tueni told Frank Kane over lunch that the financial crisis in Lebanon 'taught us that, if we are going to survive, we need to expand'

Nayla Tueni: ‘I am a journalist, a journalist, a journalist’

Nayla Tueni is as close as you get in the Middle East to media aristocracy. She is the fourth generation of a family that, for the best part of a century – through wars, assassinations, man-made disasters and economic crises – has kept publishing Annahar, a Lebanese broadsheet described by Time magazine as “the newspaper […]

Smiling Arab Muslim Islamic 30s woman user in headscarf black hijab using phone at home sitting on couch middle eastern girl lady holding mobile

KHC would consider TikTok stake if Musk bought in

Saudi Arabian Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal’s investment company Kingdom Holding (KHC) would be interested in investing in ByteDance’s TikTok if Elon Musk or others offered to buy it, CEO Talal Ibrahim al-Maiman told Al Arabiya TV on Wednesday. The search to find a buyer for the Chinese-owned popular short video app continues after it went dark and […]

Digital billboards: Backlite Media’s “Dubai Jawhara” on the Sheikh Zayed Road, between The World Trade Centre and Dubai Mall

The million-dirham draw of digital billboards

Revenues for billboard operators have grown as much as eightfold in the past few years as digitalisation has given out-of-home (OOH) advertising a notable boost. Sometimes seen as a bellwether for the local economy, billboards get plenty of viewing time in places such as Dubai during morning and evening traffic rush hours when cars are […]

Halo AI uses 'agentic' AI to connect influencers with brands

Saudi networking platform Halo AI secures $6m funding

Saudi networking platform Halo AI has secured $6 million in seed funding to expand globally in a funding round led by Raed Ventures and Shorooq Partners, highlighting the Gulf region’s enthusiasm for artificial intelligence. Halo AI seeks to connect content creators and brands using highly autonomous or “agentic” AI technology developed by tech leaders such […]

PIF Dazn Diletta Leotta

PIF close to $1bn stake deal in sports network Dazn

Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund is close to agreeing a deal to acquire a 10 percent stake in the UK-based global sports network Dazn.  The deal, which has been under discussion for more than a year, is said to be worth at least $1 billion, which would value the broadcaster at $10 billion, the New […]

More than 170 productions have been shot in Abu Dhabi since 2013, among them films from the hit franchises Star Wars, Dune and Mission: Impossible

Abu Dhabi raises TV and film rebate to lure studios

Abu Dhabi is hoping to attract the best of Hollywood, Bollywood and the Arab world to the emirate via an increased TV and film rebate that could save studios as much as $10 million on each production. Abu Dhabi Film Commission increased its refund for productions from 30 percent to 35 percent in October as […]

Saudi Arabia had 35.1 million social media users in January 2024, according to DataPortal

Snap tips Riyadh to become nerve centre for Mena social media

Social media giant Snap is betting on Saudi Arabia becoming a leader in the Middle East’s online creator economy, a company spokesperson has told AGBI. The developer of Snapchat announced in late November that it had opened an office and a base for content creators on the outskirts of Riyadh – its first in the […]

The UAE and Saudi Arabia are key growth markets where there is rising demand for premium cinematic experiences Imax

Imax seeks investors in its vision of growth in the Gulf

Imax Corporation, the US cinema technology giant, is in discussions with Gulf investors including sovereign wealth funds as it seeks to deepen its presence in one of its fastest-growing markets. The UAE and Saudi Arabia rank among Imax’s top 20 global markets, its popularity driven by rising demand for premium cinematic experiences. “We’re meeting various […]

An entrepreneur's pitch on Unicorn Hunters. The production team is in 'advanced talks' with Saudi and Qatari-owned media

Gulf startups get ready for their close-up on reality TV

First it was Shark Tank, now it’s Unicorn Hunters. Reality TV has become the latest pathway for Gulf startups to access venture capital.  The second season of Shark Tank Dubai is airing now in the UAE – an Arabic version of the Dragons’ Den/Shark Tank format in which entrepreneurs make presentations to a panel of venture […]

Social media users concerned about their privacy are turning to decentralised platforms

It’s not just Elon Musk critics flocking to X rival Bluesky

Social media challenger Bluesky hit 20 million users this month, mostly by attracting people who have grown disillusioned with X and its owner Elon Musk. Bluesky has gained roughly 100,000 users a day since the US presidential election, when Musk was a full-throated supporter of Donald Trump. Its global user base reached 15 million people […]