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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

The UK government will pass a law to block takeovers of UK newspapers by entities linked to foreign governments

UK’s new media law threatens UAE’s Telegraph bid

A likely decision by the UK to ban foreign governments from owning British newspapers and news magazines is being seen as a setback for a UAE-backed investment company’s bid to buy the Telegraph newspaper titles. Lord Parkinson of Whitley Bay announced the ban on Wednesday, saying a new law will “rule out newspaper and periodical […]

A planned Dar Global development in Oman. The company aims to shake up real estate marketing with AI

Dar Global spin-off to use AI in real estate marketing

Dar Global, the London-listed arm of the Saudi Arabian real estate developer Dar Al Arkan, is establishing a venture dedicated to finding technological solutions to real estate companies’ biggest challenges. Ziad El Chaar, CEO of Dar Global, told AGBI that the company’s new Propgenuis spin-off would introduce tools aimed at automating social media management for […]

RedBird IMI All3Media Call the Midwife

Abu Dhabi-backed venture buys UK TV production giant 

RedBird IMI, partly owned by Abu Dhabi’s International Media Investments, is buying Britain’s largest independent television producer All3Media in a deal worth £1.15 billion ($1.45 billion). A joint venture between International Media Investments and New York private equity firm RedBird Capital Partners, RedBird IMI is also currently bidding for the UK’s Daily Telegraph newspaper All3Media […]

The Big Time fund will be used to support pan-Arab cinema and production facilities have already been developed at AlUla

Saudi Arabia sets up Big Time film investment fund

Saudi Arabia’s General Entertainment Authority has set up the Big Time investment fund to support pan-Arab cinema, in Riyadh’s latest push to develop soft power through sports and culture. The authority’s head Turki Alalshikh said during a visit to Cairo that the entertainment authority would act as the Big Time fund’s main sponsor along with […]

Tihama operates WH Smith branches at airports in Riyadh, Jeddah and the UAE

Tihama board member rebels as group’s losses exceed $37m

A board member at troubled Saudi Arabian media group Tihama has rebelled over the company’s decision not to appeal against a court ruling that blocks its rescue plan. Sultan Abdul Latif Nuqli, a non-executive director, has filed a unilateral request to appeal against the Riyadh Commercial Court decision to reject Tihama’s restructuring proposal. The move […]

Arsenal's Declan Rice in action. Dubai real estate developer Sobha Realty has secured the naming rights for Arsenal's training ground

Sobha Realty strikes sponsorship deal with Arsenal

Dubai real estate developer Sobha Realty has secured the naming rights for the training ground of English Premier League football club Arsenal. Arsenal’s facility in Hertfordshire will be known as the Sobha Realty Training Centre. It is the first time the naming rights have been sold. The deal is part of Sobha’s plan to expand […]

People are still watching full-size TVs rather than streaming programmes on their phone

Saudi TV fights off the smartphone challenge

Smart television is holding up as the main platform for accessing sports, news and entertainment in Saudi Arabia, despite the boom in streaming services that can be watched on smartphones, a leading media researcher said this week.   “In the past decade there was a lot of transformation in Saudi. New devices, behaviours and trends,” said […]

A WH Smith branch. Tihama operates the brand's shops in Saudi Arabia and the UAE

Tihama shareholders call for vote to oust board members

Shareholders in the troubled media conglomerate Tihama are calling for a vote to dismiss members of the board. The company, which operates WH Smith shops in Saudi Arabia, said in a filing to the Saudi Stock Exchange that it had received a letter from a group of shareholders who collectively own 10 percent of the […]

Tihama operates the WH Smith brand in Saudi Arabia

Saudi media group Tihama to appeal against court ruling

The company that operates WH Smith shops in Saudi Arabia is to appeal against a court ruling that blocks its financial rescue plan. The Commercial Court in Riyadh rejected the proposal from media group Tihama on Monday. Shareholders approved the financial restructuring plan recommended by Tihama’s board of directors last month. More than 99 percent […]

Poddster co-founder and CEO Vuk Zlatarov. The Dubai-based podcast company is expanding its studio network across the UAE and Saudi Arabia

Poddster builds on Mena’s podcast popularity

Poddster aims to “democratise” Middle East podcast production by expanding its network of recording studios, capitalising on high listener figures and rising interest in independent content in the Mena region. Founded by Vuk Zlatarov and Ivan Zeljkovic, the Dubai-based podcast company plans to increase its number of UAE studios from three to seven, and launch […]

Filming for MBC drama 'Umm Haroun'. The Saudi media group offered a 10% stake in its IPO

Shares in MBC rise 30% on Saudi Tadawul debut

The share price of media company MBC Group rose by 30 percent as it made its debut on the Saudi stock exchange on Monday. The Saudi group’s initial public offering of a 10 percent stake last month was 17.6 times oversubscribed by retail investors, raising SAR1.46 billion ($390 million). At the opening bell of the […]

An actor in the process of creating a synthetic facial reanimation video, or deepfake

Reality still beats deepfake technology … for now

Technology experts are confident that artificial intelligence-generated deepfakes will not dominate or replace human talent. “It sounds tremendously fake, even when it sounds ‘real’,” Ahmad Haffar, the voice behind Dubai Metro and managing partner at Mindloop Studios, told AGBI. Deepfakes are manipulated videos, images or audio recordings created using AI. They are increasingly commonplace in […]

JEDDAH, SAUDI ARABIA - DECEMBER 02: Greg Silverman, Charlene Deleon-Jones and Jessika Borsiczky pose in the portrait studio during the Red Sea International Film Festival 2023 on December 02, 2023 in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. (Photo by Tristan Fewings/Getty Images for The Red Sea International Film Festival)

Coming to a movie theatre near you … AlUla

It would make the perfect setting for Star Wars or Indiana Jones, but AlUla is developing production facilities that will expand its reach beyond sci-fi and desert adventure movies, making it one of the region’s prime locations for international shoots.  The tourist location in northwest Saudi Arabia is fast developing into a mini-city with an […]

Man watching tv and eating popcorn at home on a couch, back view

In the streaming age, the TV stays on after Ramadan

YouTube creators and streaming services are changing the face of television all over the world – but particularly in Arab countries, according to executives who attended the Red Sea Film Festival in Jeddah this month. The entertainment industry in the Middle East traditionally focused on the fasting month, when TV shows could find a captive […]

International Holding Company said in a disclosure to the Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange that scammers are using the company's name for fraudulent investment opportunities

Middle East hit by wave of brand impersonation scams

Cybersecurity experts in the Middle East are warning of a rise in brand impersonation attacks which persuade unsuspecting consumers to part with sensitive information.  International Holding Company, a global investor based in Abu Dhabi, said in a disclosure to the Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange last week that scammers are using the company’s name and logo […]

Faris Godus (right) with brother Sohayb and actress Najm, the stars of his film Fever Dream

Modern Saudi gets its close-up at Jeddah film festival

The new Saudi Arabia seen on screen at the Red Sea International Film Festival in Jeddah is barely recognisable from the country where religious mores prevented the mingling of unrelated men and women, and suspicions of foreigners cast a long shadow.  Among the stories being told at this month’s festival are those of a young […]