State of the Saudi media sector and investment opportunities it offers
RIYADH: The General Authority for Media Regulation has released a report, 'The State of the Saudi Media Sector and Investment Opportunities for 2024,' which provides an overview of the media landscape in the Kingdom and highlights the significant transformations the sector is undergoing to keep pace with Saudi Vision 2030.
The report reflects promising investment opportunities, in addition to the technical and regulatory shifts that support the growth and sustainability of the sector. It also illustrates the magnitude of the boom in the Saudi media sector, which has achieved remarkable development driven by digital transformation and technological advance, improving the efficiency of media content and enhancing its global competitiveness.
The media authority's estimates in the report indicate that the contribution of the media sector to the direct and indirect gross domestic product increased to 0.57 per cent in 2024, amounting to SAR16 billion ($4.26 billion), compared with 0.52 per cent in 2023.
The authority continues to work towards achieving its ambitious goals of raising this percentage to 0.8 percent by 2030. In terms of investment in human capital, job growth reached 67,000 jobs, with a rate of 22 percent by the end of 2024, with the aim of reaching 160,000 jobs by 2030.
The report also identified six key transformations in the media industry in the Kingdom, including the increasing demand for local content, developing media infrastructure, adopting modern technologies such as artificial intelligence and augmented reality, improving the regulatory environment, supporting national talents and competencies, and expanding investment opportunities.
The report confirms that the Kingdom has become a prominent destination for media investment, providing a flexible regulatory environment and mega-projects aimed at enhancing the media industry.
It also addressed the opportunities available to investors in content production, the development of electronic games, investment in media infrastructure, and international partnerships in the Saudi media market. In addition, the continued innovation and adoption of modern technologies to enhance the competitiveness of Saudi media globally is a crucial factor because the sector has elements that make it one of the main drivers of economic and cultural development in the Kingdom.
The report details the opportunities and challenges in the sector and covers the five media divisions supervised by the General Authority for Media Regulation: publishing; audio; visual; advertising; and games sectors.
The authority, through the report, hopes to improve understanding of the local media landscape and provide clear and accurate data to media entities and local and international investors, to highlight the promising opportunities in the sector.
The report is a comprehensive reference for the state of media in the Kingdom and is provides a guide for local and international investors and researchers in the sector. The authority urges interested partis to view the report on its website at https://gmedia.gov.sa/ar/media-status-report
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