Latest news with #BroadcastProSummitKSA
Broadcast Pro
22-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Broadcast Pro
Playing to win
At the BroadcastPro Summit KSA, Dr Mohammed Alshahrani, Country Manager KSA at BytePlus, and Arif Aabed, Senior Manager of Technology Partnerships at MBC Group, explored what's powering the region's gaming boom and how MBC's Wizzo app is shaping the scene. The Middle East is witnessing an unprecedented boom in gaming and esports, with multiple reports confirming its rapid growth. According to the MENA Gaming & eSports Summit 2023, there are more than 377m gamers across the Middle East. Statista says Egypt has the region's largest gaming population, Saudi Arabia the most gaming revenue and the UAE the highest revenue per user. An AnalysysMason report names Saudi Arabia as the Middle East leader, accounting for over 40% of MENA's overall market share, followed by the UAE. It's clear that gaming is thriving in the region. Amid this explosive growth, Dr Mohammed Alshahrani, Country Manager KSA at BytePlus, sat down for a fireside chat with Arif Aabed, Senior Manager of Technology Partnerships at MBC Group, at the BroadcastPro Summit KSA. The duo discussed the factors driving gaming in the region, and the evolving role and impact of MBC's Wizzo app. Opening the 'Playing to Win: How MBC Wizzo is engaging the swipe generation' session, Dr Alshahrani noted how MBC had been an early mover in gaming, launching the Wizzo app in 2015 before the industry had gathered momentum. Shedding light on the insights that shaped MBC's foray into gaming, Aabed said: 'We changed how we looked at Gen Z and the Alpha generation. They don't have shorter attention spans, they simply make quicker decisions about the type of content they want to consume. They also multi-screen and can consume content from up to five screens simultaneously. And finally, they prefer content they can relate to. Videos filmed on an iPhone are more appealing to them than high-quality content produced with cutting-edge technology.' 'They also want content that is interactive, relevant and can help them build a community. This is where gaming comes in. With gaming, they are no longer passive consumers. They become actively involved in its progress and direction. They must put effort into the game, which earns them bragging rights and allows them to build a community. We were able to give them all of this through Wizzo.' With the gaming industry experiencing a dramatic spike in metaverse integrations and cross-platform play that allows seamless experiences across multiple devices, Dr Alshahrani asked how MBC keeps pace with these ever-changing trends. 'The Arab world spans a huge geography, from the Middle East to North Africa. Each country has its own cultural nuances, which we incorporated into our games. We didn't just build games, we created experiences that were tailored to every individual region. For instance, Egypt is driven by humour-based content, while games for Saudi Arabia focus on the traditions of Arab warriors and the stories around them,' Aabed explained. This deep cultural integration is reflected in Wizzo's inclusion in the region's pop culture. Aabed recalled a recent viral moment: 'When Egypt's airport systems went down and the authorities started stamping travel documents manually, people started referencing our Madame Afaf game, which has a similar concept.' Another feature that makes Wizzo immensely popular with gamers is its live streaming and video uploading capability. For this, Wizzo partners with BytePlus to offer a seamless and enhanced in-app experience. 'Live streaming has become an important pillar of Wizzo's community-building offering. It's helped us capitalise on gamers who are not just bounty hunters but covet bragging rights. These people are the most invested in the game in terms of time and effort; they play with a certain showmanship and are invested in the game itself rather than just the monetary rewards it brings,' said Aabed. The popularity of video hosting and distribution was reconfirmed by Dr Alshahrani, who highlighted how Capcut, a ByteDance video editing app, is currently number three in Saudi Arabia. 'We leverage AI-driven solutions to continuously enhance product experience for our users and enterprise customers. In fact, we have a new AI-enhanced video editing tool that can transform archived videos to HD at very pocket-friendly prices.' Here, Wizzo's live chat option plays an important role too. 'There are different ways, especially in open-world games, of completing missions,' explained Aabed. 'Multiplayer games boast artistic ways of scoring points or getting the kill. All these elements serve as the starting point of many conversations, and to be able to live chat with other players or audiences at these moments makes the game even more rewarding.' Another critical factor driving Wizzo's popularity is user security. 'With a significant number of users being children or young adults, Wizzo's security measures, such as the ability to delete user data, has succeeded in earning the confidence of families,' commented Dr Alshahrani. Beyond gaming enthusiasts, Wizzo has been attracting passionate and talented stakeholders including game designers, publishers and distributors. Dr Alshahrani highlighted MBC's initiatives to support SMEs and startups in the gaming sector. By collaborating with local and regional game developers, the group creates opportunities for them to showcase their work in Saudi Arabia. Elaborating on the process, Aabed said, 'We're always working at finding the right talent to bring into Saudi Arabia, or connecting them with established companies to make relocating to Saudi Arabia lucrative. We can do this on a global scale thanks to our leading position in the media industry. As the biggest media group in the region, we give them a taste of what it's like to launch in this part of the world. We are also training people at the grassroots level. We are reaching out to the Kingdom's graduates and are trying to convince them to adopt gaming as an actual business.' Such efforts have not been without challenges. 'There are a lot of cultural issues with parents resisting their children from working in gaming, so we conduct many awareness and educational campaigns, regionally and globally.' Looking ahead, Wizzo is gearing up to launch an updated version soon. While the release date hasn't been confirmed, gamers can look forward to several new features and an enhanced immersive experience.
Broadcast Pro
20-05-2025
- Business
- Broadcast Pro
The expanding role of AI in broadcast
An AI discussion at the BroadcastPro Summit KSA looked at AI-driven video production automation, virtual production, piracy protection, metadata tagging, watermarking and real-time content takedown solutions. We bring you a summary of what some of the experts had to say. A 2025 report by Canadian video streaming tech company Haivision identifies AI and machine learning as the top emerging trends in the broadcast industry, with 64% of respondents naming them as the most transformative technologies for broadcast production. The report also notes a sharp rise in the adoption of AI in broadcast workflows, with 25% of participants using it, up from last year's 9%. Further, 41% of respondents anticipate using AI within the next two years. This growing reliance on AI was the focal point of a panel discussion at the BroadcastPro Summit in Saudi Arabia, moderated by Jody Neckles, Principal Solutions Architect at Backlight and founder of Technative. Titled 'Unlocking AI in Broadcast and Streaming: Innovations and Challenges', the session featured Eyad Al Dwaik, Director of Engineering at stc/ Intigral; Kathey Battrick, Head of Media Management & AI Taskforce Leader at Asharq Network; and Alaa Ali, Director of Anti-Piracy and Technology at RightsHero. Jody Neckles opened the discussion by emphasising how AI is transforming broadcast operations from content production to distribution, driving innovation and efficiency while raising important questions about fair use and ethics. Kathey Battrick shared how Asharq uses AI to manage its vast and ever-growing content libraries: 'Our main challenge is to ensure that the content is easily and quickly discoverable by all the production teams, regardless of the platform they use to produce it. Along with this, we must also quicken the process of understanding content received in foreign languages. The transcription and translation must be done very quickly. Currently we are using AI to create metadata for nearly 1,600 hours of incoming content each month. This includes mostly raw video content, along with the live channel output that is recorded for Asharq News.' 'Initially we used AI for more traditional functions such as face detection, object recognition, transcription and translation,' she continued. 'Recently we've added a generative multimodal AI solution to create human-like scene descriptions, making it easier to highlight key moments in content. Since we have both Arabic and English content, we are also creating multilingual metadata to meet the search preferences of our users.' For Asharq, AI's facial recognition capabilities have been particularly valuable. 'When we launched, there were no existing models capable of identifying Arab business leaders and public figures, which are essential for our content. Over the years, we have built our own dataset to address this gap. Every individual we interview is documented with their name, job title and aliases in both English and Arabic. This has been particularly useful for standardising name spellings across platforms, as Arabic names often have multiple English transliterations,' explained Battrick. Elaborating on the workflow, she noted: 'Once the content arrives, it's sent for AI-powered metadata processing. The processed metadata is then distributed across all our production and asset management platforms. Our archivists review and refine the data before it is reintegrated, improving accuracy and boosting user confidence in AI-generated metadata.' This content indexing process is applied to both raw footage and live video streams relayed to Asharq, in addition to the 1,600 hours of incoming content mentioned earlier. Developments such as these are useful for producers across both broadcast and digital media. The processed data also has the potential to filter through to owned and operated platforms, making content more discoverable on them, noted Neckles. Intigral, a part of Saudi Telecom Group (stc), uses AI for content analysis and delivery. 'We are working on a project using AI to analyse our word library to create metadata around the genres, mood and settings. This data will feed into our recommendation system, providing viewers with more relevant content suggestions,' remarked Eyad Al Dwaik. Over the past couple of years, Intigral has also been working with one of its partners on an AI model to enhance its encoding. 'After deploying the new model, we saw a 67% reduction in our video encoding bitrates. It significantly improved efficiency while maintaining quality. With regards to ultra-HD, achieving high-quality video at around 3-5MB per second is remarkable. Our customer satisfaction went up, as did the KPIs for the engineering department. It was a win-win situation,' he added. AI also serves as an assistant to Intigral's engineering team, enabling it to code faster and more accurately. 'Some scripts and code used to take me a day to write. With AI, I can do it in less than an hour. If I'm using a new language and I don't know the syntax, I just have to input what I want and AI generates the code for me. If there are errors, I provide feedback and the AI corrects itself,' he said. At RightsHero, AI is being injected into crawling mechanisms to enhance pirated content detection and monitoring on various platforms, including social media, search engines and website aggregators. 'We've integrated AI into the enforcement process to detect and remove content more accurately. Our goal is to implement AI across the entire workflow, from searching and detecting to taking down content, ensuring a more efficient and streamlined process,' said Alaa Ali. Additionally, RightsHero leverages metadata gathered from aggregator sites for faster pirate content identification, he explained. 'We've also trained the AI to decide the best takedown path – whether to contact the platform or alert the hosting provider. So, depending upon the data available, the AI chooses the fastest route to disable that content.' Social media platforms such as YouTube and Facebook have their own anti-piracy measures. 'Most social media platforms have their own content ID systems, which automatically scan uploaded videos against a database of copyrighted material. However, content pirates are now armed with tactics that allow them to evade detection. To counter this, we use automated software that can identify content that the content ID system may have missed. This software detects unauthorised content, reports it to the social media platform and ensures it is taken down immediately. Third-party companies such as RightsHero are not involved in this process. The platforms develop their own tools and use AI and machine learning to improve the process.' Social media platforms have also enhanced their detection process with the use of AI. 'Five years ago, the detection was much slower than it is now. Now, once the reference file is uploaded, the detection and takedown is immediate,' added Ali. Elaborating on content protection and fighting piracy, Al Dwaik said: 'Piracy is becoming easier by the day. Earlier, it was harder to get pirated content. Now, for as little as $50 viewers can stream premium content platforms like NBC, Shahid and stc. Fighting piracy is a never-ending battle. Here, AI can help with anomaly detection. For instance, pirates' behaviour is different from normal users when it comes to content consumption. If a user consumes a week's worth of content in 24 hours, that signals suspicious activity. AI can find such anomalies with the right training. Without AI, identifying piracy sources takes a couple of days; with AI, it just takes a few minutes.' Intigral still currently relies on a manual watermarking process, but AI could streamline this process in the future. Interestingly, pirates are also leveraging technology to infringe copyrighted content. While AI has not yet permeated piracy rings, automation is widely used. 'Previously, piracy involved manually capturing and uploading content. In case of a takedown, they would have to start from scratch again. Now, automation allows them to re-upload the content within seconds. This makes automation and AI doubly important – we now have to adapt and match the pirates' sophisticated set-up, else we lose the piracy battle,' said Ali candidly. Ali suggested integrating AI with blockchain technology for better piracy control: 'Blockchain can serve as a decentralised identifier for copyright holders, preventing content duplication and ensuring uniqueness.' Despite the rapid advances in AI, all the panellists agreed that human oversight remains essential. 'The human factor can never be eliminated. Its role, however, has changed. AI will never be 100% accurate and human intervention will always be needed to train, supervise and correct AI. For example, sometimes AI is unable to identify copyright infringement, so human intervention is needed,' said Ali. Battrick echoed this sentiment, highlighting that Asharq still employs archivists despite AI integration: 'We don't feel that AI will ever replace our archivists. In fact, they have become more important than before. Their role has shifted from metadata creation to supervising AI-generated metadata. AI, especially in facial recognition, is not 100% accurate. When a face is detected and indexed by the system, a human reviewer is still needed to verify and correct any errors or biases. For instance, Boris Johnson and his brother look quite similar, and the AI repeatedly misidentified the brother as Boris. So we need to remain vigilant in such cases.' Al Dwaik revealed how Intigral's attempt to use AI for censorship was unsuccessful: 'Our goal was to develop a system where AI could handle censorship by learning from past catalogues and censorship decisions. However, it didn't work as expected – we realised that AI cannot take responsibility. If AI makes an error and inappropriate content is aired, we can't simply blame the technology. A human reviewer is essential to ensure accuracy. Since we couldn't fully trust AI for this task, we decided not to deploy the system.' Al Dwaik shared his vision for the future of AI in data centres: 'The future of AI is to have an AI assistant available to engineers, where the engineer will ask the AI assistant to test some changes on the staging environment, run tests and provide the results, and assist with deploying these changes to the production environment.' As the discussion concluded, the panellists agreed that while AI is revolutionising broadcast workflows, it cannot function independently of human expertise.
Broadcast Pro
19-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Broadcast Pro
The power of podcasts and audio streaming in MENA
The Arab podcast industry is advancing rapidly, driven by growth in the region's digital culture and a heightened desire for learning. Community-like discussions, conversational content and a sense of reliability have increased podcast popularity. Amidst this interest and enthusiasm, media houses and streaming platforms have an important role in shaping Saudi Arabia's audio landscape and accommodating new technologies that help the segment. At the BroadcastPro Summit KSA in February 2025, the rise and impact of podcasts was discussed by an eminent panel moderated by Joe Morrison, Live Television Anchor and Commentator, Saudi Pro League. The rest of the panel consisted of Alexander Agishev, Head of MBC Loud FM Station; Ahmed Raafat, GM and co-founder, Takwene; and Zeina Tabbara, Multimedia Producer and Content Strategist at Asharq Podcasts. Typically an audio medium, podcasts have ventured from audio to video in recent times and their prominence, whether scripted or unprepared, has tripled in the region and especially in Saudi Arabia. Setting the tone for the discussion, Morrison aimed to determine what exactly a podcast is – whether audio, audio-video or video only. Essentially an opportunity to tell a story, podcasts are longform content that sit on multiple platforms, and podcasters must be good storytellers. They must also be informative, explained Alexander Agishev. 'These days, podcasts have moved more into video podcasts or vodcasts, and it is important to make sure you're maximising your content across multiple platforms and not just the audio space. For us at MBC Loud FM, which is the first English commercial station in Saudi Arabia, it opens the prospect of translating it to a radio show.' Video has become a very important component. 'TikTok has become a major discovery platform – it's now the key tool for discovering podcasts and driving their distribution. In Saudi Arabia specifically, I refer to this as the first wave of podcasters,' said Zeina Tabbara. She added that while benefits include lower cost of production and distribution and the accompanying freedom to experiment, what's exciting about the Arabic podcast landscape, especially Saudi Arabia, is that it is a creator-led landscape with independent creators. 'You don't see a lot of the big behemoth media or legacy brands, as you see in the UK or in the US, where there is a mix of established brands as well as new podcasters holding the top spots. That makes Saudi very exciting.' A lot of the top podcasts in Saudi Arabia are audio only, where the listener doesn't really know who the hosts are, and they do very well. While video is an important aspect, content remains the predominant feature, said Tabbara. Based on audience behaviour and requirements, specifically with the new and younger generation, podcasts are both audio- and video-led, noted Ahmed Raafat. 'Even as podcasts were originally audio only, the younger segment of viewers seek visual content. The primary goal is to create content for them and get their attention – that new-generational behaviour cannot be ignored. And the reason for their demand is because content can be consumed whenever needed, whether driving, while working out or travelling. With podcasts, it feels like they are interacting with whoever is delivering content to them. And this is a key differentiating factor between content created by humans and one by AI.' In this respect, the bigger brands must adopt a sea change in strategy as individual creators rule the region, added Morrison. Saudi Arabia is one of the biggest countries in the GCC, with 36m people, and a bigger population naturally converts to more opportunity for scale. Companies must think about creating podcasts that can translate to audio, video and social media. If they are not focusing on multi-platform content and scale, they are going to be left behind, the panellists noted. 'With a big media company like MBC, we have multiple platforms, audio platforms in the MBC podcast and MBC Mood and Shahid, which is the biggest streaming platform in the MENA region. We think about all those outlets when creating podcast content; there's opportunity across a wide range and we try to simplify that process. The same content needs to be able to sit everywhere, and if we're not doing that, we will not get the numbers. That is one of the biggest challenges in the region,' said Agishev. This rethink in strategy also extends to journalists and media personalities or celebrities. Whether print or TV, there's huge potential and now is the time to pivot and build one's own personal brand through podcasts. In the region and in Saudi Arabia specifically, those who have mastered that are the independent creators. 'Journalists should have their own podcasts,' said Tabbara. 'Without referencing a lot of the Western brands, a great case study is the New York Times. They're a legacy brand that made a switch to digital. Besides the subscription model, their print journalists began moving towards podcasts and going behind the mic. 'Some of the top podcasters in the West were able to pivot and do their own standalone content. I advise a lot of legacy journalists and TV presenters here in the Middle East to try to make that shift. People don't want manicured discussions, they want more easy-going, honest ones.' Convincing journalists to move is a struggle, however, because people want full control of how they look and what they say. 'A lot of the journalists or media people here see the Tik-Tokers, and they want to keep it conversational,' continued Tabbara. 'They have solo podcasts, and it doesn't have to be that each time there is a guest. I tell first-time movers that it is a big space, that there are so many categories which haven't been touched or filled. For instance, there's a dearth of female podcasters or a need for financial literacy. And podcasts are a great way to educate, so we need content around that.' When it comes to monetisation, podcasts have more challenges than trying to convince musical cohorts, for example, to get on board. Artists distribute and publish content in different ways which transform easily to digital media. 'The new concepts and technologies particularly are demanding with podcasts, since it comes from someone with a certain level of expertise about something that he or she wishes to share with an audience,' said Raafat. 'There is that gap in culture between those imparting knowledge and the ones receiving it. In the current scenario, a major challenge is to get the attention of the new generation of listeners or viewers to a particular form of content. We are always trying to help podcasters apply a kind of audience development, such as making hooks about the content or having multi-formats so that their podcasts reach out to as many sections of the audience and gains more visibility.' A big part of talk shows and podcasts is on-air chemistry, but not everyone understands how to format shows or strategically leverage algorithms to achieve an anticipated outcome. 'We don't outsmart the algorithm; we don't juice it. For instance, we produce one on books and the presenter summarises the best business books into Arabic – the good to great ones. With podcasts it is about 50% content and 50% distribution,' said Tabbara. Each platform has its own algorithm that gets its content to the top, such as creating playlists for music. Content development, pitching and scripting content are significantly more important in increasing listenership than all the technicalities involved, said Raafat. A major difficulty with podcasts, however, is discoverability; it is hard to curate content using AI. In this regard, building a relationship with companies such as Apple, Spotify or Anghami is important. 'Apple curates their homepage per country; they try to discover what's new and that helps a lot,' Tabbara said. Building audience and improving engagement are the main monetising strategies in a relatively new and fragmented landscape. Like any other product, it is about content and great storytelling. Whether it's media networks, radio stations or audio platforms, you must be a great content creator, said Agishev. 'I advise a lot of legacy journalists and TV presenters here in the Middle East to try to make that shift [to podcasts]. People don't want manicured discussions, they want more easy-going, honest ones' – Zeina Tabbara, Multimedia Producer and Content Strategist at Asharq Podcasts 'All the things we learned when we were starting in radio years ago are still relevant. To engage with the audience one-on-one and have that connection with the listener is critical. If you can successfully create an emotional perspective, then that content will eventually lead you to monetise, whether radio or audio.' As several podcast specialty media houses spring up around the world with an entire suite of podcasts under their wings, such as former footballer Gary Lineker's Goalhanger, the region is witnessing a 'podcast network 2.0'. 'The first round of podcast networks in the region were trying too hard to be too polished, they took time to produce shows. We are now seeing the next batch of networks, and it's moving fast,' said Tabbara. 'More and more people want to produce and create, and there aren't enough podcast studios to rent out. A lot of the studios are still traditional video content studios and people are looking for a one-stop shop. So there's growing opportunity in Saudi Arabia right now.' With any new idea that's sustainable or viable, innovation is key to creating valuable opportunities. There are multiple ways to monetise, and a subscription model is a major part of this process. The same thing works for podcasts because users are willing to pay for storytelling or any sort of information or knowledge that they are keen to learn. 'It is unlike musical content or entertainment or something comical, where people are willing to listen but don't intend paying. There's useful, constructive information on a podcast and so huge opportunity for podcasters to make money,' said Raafat. Media houses, as dependable sources, have an advantage in that people trust the brand. Legacy brands will therefore play an important role in the future, and just as important will be collaborations in this part of the world, said Agishev. 'At MBC we have multiple TV channels and partnerships, and we are constantly surveying the landscape for opportunities to collaborate, to continue to grow our offerings in English and Arabic.' Marking a decisive shift forward from a video podcast perspective, MBC will be launching a new podcast studio shortly. 'We are looking to deliver exceptional content in a variety of topics that are both creative and interesting.' 'At MBC, we have multiple TV channels and partnerships, and we are constantly surveying the landscape for opportunities to collaborate, to continue to grow our offerings in English and Arabic' – Alexander Agishev, Head of MBC Loud FM Station While content creators a decade ago could get a good foothold by starting a YouTube channel, it is today an industry and a 'juggernaut', observed Morrison. The challenges and opportunities for the debutant creator are still dynamic and flourishing, and demand will remain as long as people welcome fresh new talent and yearn for new topics. People want new voices, said Tabbara. 'Those big brands who want to work with the top influencers need to reach out to the micro influencers instead, and work on podcasts with them. Start small so they can grow with you.' And with everything that is related to content, staying true and authentic is the key – sticking to what one believes in and is passionate about, said Raafat. The possibilities are limitless for those wishing to start their own podcast and make a mark. To get their voices heard and reach out. To appeal to an audience and have that connection, and talk about life stories, practices and experiences. It is an interesting space and an exciting time to step in and create, while podcast culture thrills and engages the listener. And yes, the viewer.
Broadcast Pro
15-05-2025
- Business
- Broadcast Pro
Tech strategies for an evolving modern MENA media ecosystem
In a streaming-first era, relevance and adaptability are vital. As viewing shifts across devices and platforms, businesses tap into real-time audience behaviour to shape agile content strategies. We summarise a discussion during which GCC tech leaders explored hybrid monetisation, AI-driven content creation, recommendation engines, metadata tagging and cross-platform personalisation, all key to engaging diverse audiences. At the BroadcastPro Summit KSA in February, Athanas Jamo, Chief Client Director, Ipsos, moderated an intriguing session on media technology strategies with a panel of industry leaders: Dominic Farrell, Group CTO, MBC Group; Dom Wedgwood, CTO, Arqiva; Nisrine Ghazal, VP Digital, Rotana Media Services; and Peter Van Dam, Chief Broadcasting Officer, Saudi Pro League. With consumption across 80-85% of the GCC, penetration remains high. As streaming shakes this media ecosystem, Jamo queried how broadcasters balance the linear to on-demand shift, and their monetisation, personalisation and AI techniques. From an engagement point of view, it presents challenges, remarked Dominic Farrell, Group CTO of MBC Group. 'The proliferation of smart devices continues to grow with the influx of cheaper, smart enabled devices. We relaunched Shahid in 2019 to transform it from what was traditionally a catchup TV service, because we knew the streaming trend was coming and wanted to be assured of a presence there.' Using exclusive content, windowing, putting newest content onto linear first and then moving it onto the OTT platform are the obvious ways to engage. 'We also look at companion devices. So you could be taking part in a poll or a quiz using your device, while watching a news show or live sport on the main TV. Or you could engage with statistics and replays and the like on a companion device.' The newly released MBC Now box is the broadcaster's first-ever pure streaming device. Later this year, it will launch a hybrid satellite box that will allow customers to plug a box into their existing satellite capabilities to connect to the internet, Farrell confided. Combining the best of free linear and pay-TV in a unified user experience, it will allow customers to browse free content along with other content in a single user interface. 'We believe satellite distribution will remain dominant for entertainment across the MENA for at least the next five to 10 years, and this application will appeal to a majority of customers across the Middle East,' he said. While the streaming legacy continues, media companies reinvent approaches to stay relevant. Instead of having another streaming app in a cluttered market, Rotana looked at digitally transforming its existing channels for monetisation, said Nisrine Ghazal, VP Digital, Rotana Media Services. With 16 channels, 10 of which are free-to-air, Rotana has embedded HBBTV protocols and 'transformed those from analogue to hybrid channels that connect to an ad server we can serve digital advertising on'. Noticing that advertisers require inventory at scale, Rotana created a marketplace wherein other video publishers and broadcasters in the region may also expose their advertising inventory without having to invest in resources. Because digital transformation is a massive investment that several publishers and broadcasters are struggling with, 'we do a revenue share model so you're not really investing in anything at the start'. 'We provide a comprehensive end-to-end advertising solution powered by cutting-edge ad technology. Our investment in the most advanced video ad server ensures optimal performance, while our direct integrations with leading SSPs and DSPs streamline the entire ecosystem. We also offer a dedicated sales force to maximise monetisation opportunities. Understanding that publishers and broadcasters are cautious about sharing data, the Rotana solution analyses audience behaviour and key parameters to build insightful audience profiles, enhancing targeting while maintaining data privacy.' In this distinctly hybrid landscape, leveraging the best know-how becomes crucial for broadcasters of sport when it comes to fan engagement. 'As a league, we have an obligation towards our broadcasters and rights holders to ensure they get the right content and good content,' emphasised Peter Van Dam, Chief Broadcasting Officer, Saudi Pro League (SPL). 'Our focus is fan engagement and making sure we bring the excitement and atmosphere in the stadium to the viewer at home.' Football being top entertainment on its own, the SPL is viewed in 49 countries, but getting the bigger audiences to stay means adding value to content. 'We do that with short forms and by distributing additional footage that's not seen in the world feed itself. Each region is different – Brazil, China, [non-Nordic] Europe, the Nordic countries – all of them come with their unique tastes. So technology becomes very important in the personalisation of feeds and products that we deliver.' Good streaming performance requires state-of-the-art infrastructure and technology that can take on the challenge, commented Dom Wedgwood, CTO, Arqiva. 'Our responsibility as a trusted managed-service provider is to make sure we help broadcasters and rights holders make the right choices in a hybrid world. With different distribution models, we look at products and services that can operate in today's complex landscape. 'It means using the best technologies, whether that be IP and software, deployed either in the cloud or on-premise. This is especially important to get right when there is need for heightened awareness around cyber security, or quality and latency requirements specific to sport. We are thinking about products and services that allow one operation that can satisfy streaming and broadcast capabilities in a unified way.' Infrastructure when streaming live events is about understanding the whole flow of where the content has come from, whether a live studio or football stadium. 'What you have at the last point, how you encode that and post on the internet, determines how well it is accepted by all the devices, from the ones that don't cope so well to the most modern connected TVs,' he added. A lot of publishers look at the content side of the business without paying much heed to monetisation, Ghazal pointed out. 'They build their platforms on products that don't necessarily connect with the right ad servers or play out proper ads and video content in the way they're supposed to. Platforms need to pay attention to ad solutions because that is a sustainable model. They cannot rely on just subscription.' With AI fundamentally changing the way the media industry operates, balancing innovation with cost-effective and reliable tech solutions is necessary. 'AI is perfect at driving incremental efficiencies,' stated Farrell. 'We are using it to create five-minute or 10-minute sports clips or for highlights, and then targeting customers based on their viewing durations. Having AI automatically format and reformat content is extremely useful. 'We are using it to do first-run passes on all content, to check for nudity or profanity. Additionally, we are also looking into how we can use AI to breathe new life into old content. We are delving into our deep archive of '40s and '50s content which was originally shot in low-quality black-and-white, and using AI we can convert them into both HD and colour. Essentially this would allow us to re-monetise content that had previously lost its appeal.' Partnering with technology solutions providers who have AI within their systems helps optimise monetisation strategies. 'From a data standpoint, we've partnered with said Ghazal. 'They look at various parameters for audience behaviour across platforms, which are then brought into our DMP and build audience profiles. A lot of publishers are hesitant in providing those data parameters, so we are using AI to build profiles.' For ad-serving solutions, Rotana has partnered with SpringServe to enhance campaign efficiency and brand safety. Its AI-powered programmatic solution automatically scans advertiser creatives to detect any content that may conflict with or compete against the broadcaster airing it. This automated screening serves as the first layer of review. 'If any content is flagged as questionable, it is then escalated for human verification, ensuring that AI enhances the process without replacing the critical oversight of manual review,' said Ghazal. 'It's an efficiency standpoint; we don't disrupt the audience behaviour.' Rotana is also working with brands to use AI for seamless integration of ads, such as dynamically inserting a soda can in a lunch scene or a cream in a bedroom. While AI is being administered, ethical outcomes must be considered. 'Even though we're broadcasting live games, we maintain a rigorous internal quality control process and uphold a clear ethical code throughout,' said Van Dam. 'We monitor it at all times, making sure whatever goes on air is top quality. It's not just about censorship; a lot of times on TikTok or other verticals we don't see the goal or the player, just a green field. This was probably AI-created and nobody looked at it before it was published, adding no value whatsoever. When we publish our highlights, it is still manually adjusted or extended or shortened to ensure that it is visually and factually appealing and right.' Businesses can be classified as AI-ready or accelerated. While there are use cases that companies take on as innovation opportunities, 'the overarching message is that it's okay to only be getting ready, because most companies have to first make sure their data is organised appropriately', said Wedgwood. 'At the core of Arqiva is a security and data business managing critical national infrastructure in the UK for broadcast. Knowing the security of the data, of where it is and what we're doing with it, is paramount.' The new Arqiva is leaning into the OTT ecosystem with dynamic ad insertion and personalisation, with a mission to help get content to every single end device. 'Our brand-new cloud playout platform, which can be on-prem as well, works around the different methods that we serve content for traditional broadcast, OTT and content creators. That ecosystem is huge. For example, one Manchester United creator has nearly four million subscribers. They require lightweight tools, and when we build things we want to give them infrastructure that can help with personalisation and monetisation.' Within this streaming ecosystem, there is huge potential for innovation – there's absolute control and capability between the encoder, origin, playout and player. 'All of those are different opportunities for the content to be adapted, from HTML graphics, promotional content, monetisation or otherwise – that's a huge and exciting space we are in,' commented Wedgwood. Beyond the infrastructure and emerging technologies is data sharing that is crucial for all monetisation strategies, reiterated Ghazal. 'Whether it's a behavioural target, contextual, whether it's lookalikes, cross-device platforms or something else, we need that information to be able to generate money for broadcasters. Secondly, all channels must have proper manifests and SCTE markers that make the experience seamless for the viewer and broadcaster. 'Thirdly, programmatic advertising – it is not only open auction, but there are also models today that don't involve open auction, whether they are PG deals or PMP deals. We as ad resellers or sellers negotiate with specific clients and create deals within those closed parameters.' Everything starts with data, particularly with personalisation, agreed Farrell. 'Customer data platforms aggregate data, and hyper-personalisation is about combining data sources to give the most accurate representation of viewers, which fundamentally impacts recommendations.' Eventually, it is about listening to viewers and fans, said Van Dam. 'To make sure we can provide content specifically tailored for regions, and more importantly to everybody. Sometimes we hear the younger generation doesn't want to see a full game anymore, only a recap in 15 minutes, that's the way they consume. We must adapt constantly and stay dynamic.' It is also about not 'ruining the experience, because your viewers will churn if every time there's an ad, there is a flash frame of something else', said Wedgwood. 'If that SCTE marker and the timing hasn't been thought about, if it's not the right quality and not a TV-like experience, people will leave. As much as we're changing to watch it on other devices, we still want it to be like TV – seamless. And the key to that is real-time data and focused analytics about the quality of experience.' Zenith Media forecasts that by 2026, CTV advertising spend in MENA will reach half a billion dollars. 'The biggest challenge is that if broadcasters attempt to sell digital advertising on their video platforms independently, they lack the scale and volume needed to attract advertisers,' said Ghazal. 'That's why the aggregated marketplace we've built is so crucial, and especially for smaller players. It allows them to be part of a consolidated opportunity that advertisers can easily access. Without this, advertisers will continue to allocate their budgets to platforms like YouTube for scale, which currently we believe captures about 80% of that half-billion-dollar spend. Unfortunately, that valuable ad revenue won't be redistributed or reinvested within the region, ultimately limiting industry growth and sustainability.' As new devices keep coming, creating a consistent consumer proposition across all device types can pull businesses back to the lowest common denominator. It can hinder innovation. Understanding that complexity, and choosing the right partners and suppliers, will help move the system forward and at the same time create a seamless user experience across all devices and platforms.
Broadcast Pro
25-04-2025
- Entertainment
- Broadcast Pro
Transforming Arabic content: Studios, Producers and Regional Impact
With more demand for Arabic-language content, film production companies are ramping up investment and intensifying their content libraries. Blending culture and drama, tradition and modernity, these stories are increasingly drawing non-Arabic-speaking international viewers. Even as government and private sector collaborations become inevitable to strengthen the Arabic content scene, the region is rising to the challenge of developing strategies to craft compelling narratives. At the BroadcastPro Summit KSA in February, a trio of leaders from the Middle East's film and content production landscape discussed cross-border co-productions and partnerships, creating engaging content and more. The expert panel featured Ben Ross, CEO, Image Nation Abu Dhabi; Hana Al Omair, Creative Director, MBC Studios; and Hussein Fakhri, Chief Commercial Officer and Executive Producer, Katara Studios. Moderating the session was Tarek Matar, Partner, Strategy& Middle East. Navigating the scope and scale of Arabic content in the Middle East, particularly the GCC and Saudi Arabia, Tarek Matar explored regional potential and how homegrown stories could resonate on a global scale. Crafted as very localised productions, Squid Game from South Korea and La Casa de Papel from Spain had succeeded globally. He wanted to understand what tactics content producers could employ to replicate that kind of success for Arabic productions. With the AlRawabi School for Girls, Arabic content had travelled quite well, said Ben Ross of Image Nation.'I would say the Arab world has set the stage for good content already – Netflix's AlRawabi is the closest we have seen with successful content from the region. However, everything is developed to revolve around Ramadan. A lot of times, things are reverse-engineered based on a release date, which I understand is the economics of Ramadan. But we need to take time and not rush towards that deadline. It is often better to deliver something improved the following year than run something not good enough.' Often, a universal story is a universal story. Though there are genres typical to a region, narratives don't always demand a certain theme that allows them to travel. Stories that are not too dissimilar to other cultures resound with viewers. 'Different cultures dictate different ways of telling the same story. Local audiences are usually drawn to a certain storyline and that popularity makes it go global,' said Ross. 'What is important is staying true and being genuine, and if you're not, it will simply not sustain. Make for your local audience and if you do it right by them, then it can cross borders.' Focusing on the local aspect is key to getting content to travel. Being sincere to the audience ethos and culture, the dialect, how they dress, all play a decisive role in delivering something that will appeal. 'If you try to appeal to everyone, you will appeal to no one, risking alienation or not getting the right attention at the local stage, let alone the global stage,' agreed Matar. With the world such a small place right now, 'Global audiences will know if the local audience hasn't responded and they won't bother watching it no matter the concept or story,' added Ross. Content is distributed and disseminated differently these days. Linear TV and cinema blockbusters are rapidly moving to OTT platforms. Alongside is a hoard of short-form content created on YouTube and other social media platforms. From the production point of view, steering content that can work on different formats to achieve viewership becomes a huge task, particularly with the need to suit the fleeting mindset of a younger generation. 'As a platform, we concentrate on Shahid, but social media is very important right now,' said Hana Al Omair of MBC Studios. 'It helps us gauge a show's success through audience interaction. Social media is a key measurement of success – it influences both marketing and content creation, which in turn shapes the content itself. It guides us in deciding what to create and makes us more aware of our audience.' The Saudi market is at a nascent stage and promises to be upbeat. 'But being a young market means it is at the discovery and experimental stage of growth, of what will work and what won't. Even with content in Saudi, on Shahid we are exploring different genres, whether short-form or the miniseries or longer forms, and with every single experiment we are learning more about the needs of our audiences,' said Al Omair. In this respect, it is important that content producers, distributors and OTT platforms put into place systems and data analytics that measure and analyse audience data and preferences. This real-time input helps a fast feedback loop that can be adapted to improve targetability and personalisation of content. Big media hubs such as Neom and AlUla in Saudi Arabia, and others in Qatar and Abu Dhabi, have played a major role in stimulating content production while at the same time attracting global blockbusters to the region. In this support and collaboration between government entities and private sector players lies one of the ways to incentivise the industry. 'If we want to see a change in this industry, the private sector must come in at some stage, otherwise we are never going to see the growth that we should,' said Hussein Fakhri of Katara Studios. 'The incentives and the rebates are great, and Abu Dhabi has been the pioneer in that respect in the Gulf. But more needs to be done to motivate and entice the private sector. To do that, we need to show that there's a return on investment for this industry. 'Investors don't see a proper commercial viability for what we do and so getting investment in our industry is always a struggle. Governments must stimulate that first. Instead of doing an SAR 200m fund for content, they should do an SAR 100m fund and bring in the remaining 100m from the private sector and say, your capital is guaranteed. That is the future I see for a public-private collaboration.' The region is witnessing the start of that alliance, with some funds created in Saudi Arabia today that have a government or public entity contribution, as well as some fundraising from the private sector. As soon as those returns begin to materialise, the industry will get that 'hockey stick effect' in terms of private sector attraction and growth in the industry. Seeing the pace of advancement and the societal changes in the region means looking at narratives in a new light. The picture reveals an edging towards modernity, said Matar, especially on the larger canvas of cinema, as well as on visually attractive Netflix shows such as Dubai Bling. 'It is obviously working for them,' said Fakhri. 'It may not be my choice, but it's not a subjective view and the point here is about staying authentic to ourselves. We have a treasure trove of IP and stories in this part of the world, we are storytellers, it's in our DNA. And if we tell that authentically and properly, with the right production values, the right writing, the right development and you tick all the boxes, then by default it's going to do well and it will have the ability to travel. 'India is a great example of a huge industry that makes great content. They don't get involved in nudity or things that are against their culture. It's the same for us – we can tell stories that are representative of our culture, and those are the ones that will be successful.' If the hesitation to tell stories is lifted and those straps fall off, 'we are good to go', added Ross. The advent of gen AI has affected the wider content ecosystem by revolutionising the way content is produced, and the prospect of production and post-production taking place virtually. While certain aspects of production have seen a spike in AI-aided functions, the practicality of production is not in danger for the next 15 to 20 years, said Ross. 'We are not as close as it is made out to be. Studios in the USA, despite all their deep AI programmes, continue to buy into other studios or build new ones. As long as soundstages remain in demand, AI isn't a major threat to the industry. But if major players start shifting away from physical studio spaces, that would be a sign that AI-driven production is gaining ground.' From the production side, AI is a powerful tool in terms of getting things done faster or increasing volume but is not taking away fundamental production requirements for the immediate future. 'It is not going to generate content that is authentic,' said Al Omair. 'They are not going to replace the writer or the creative human force that is at work in the industry.' The big misconception that people have about AI videos on TikTok or Instagram is that they are 'instant and free', said Ross. 'Neither is true. You see the five-minute animation videos on TikTok and that's fantastic. And then the creator in the comments below will say it took him 5,000 hours … so a lot of work hours go into this. Will it be cheaper? Absolutely. But is it instant? No. It's going to be a long transition.' Specifically with authenticity, it is difficult to see now how AI can create narratives that stay true to local characteristics and contextualise them to a market or region. While true-to-life genre-centric stories are popular, one segment that sees a lot of traction in the region, particularly in Saudi, is anime. 'Anime is not a passing trend; it has its audience and is very appealing to the Saudi market,' said Al Omair. 'Social media is a key measurement of success – it influences both marketing and content creation, which in turn shapes the content itself' – Hana Al Omair, Creative Director, MBC Studios Growing up in the region with anime, a lot of people pass those interests down to their children, said Ross. 'Currently, we are working on an animation film called CatsAway and the organic thing to happen will be a fusion between anime-style animation and traditional-style animation.' Following shows such as Squid Game and La Casa de Papel, we still need more of a breakthrough than AlRawabi School for Girls, probably the most successful Arabic show to date, said Fakhri. 'We haven't reached that tipping point yet, and the race is now on across the region to be the first to get there.' Changes in consumption habits will possibly contribute to creating Arabic content that does not work around Ramadan. 'We've had Ramadan for the last 1,400 years, and I say this with the greatest of respect. We know it comes every year, and yet six months beforehand, we get a call to say we need to do a Ramadan campaign. We need to get out of that cycle, of the 30-episodes sort of thing,' said Fakhri. It is often challenging to change audience expectations when they are used to a certain genre each year. Also, standards for content differ between regional audiences. 'A lot of things are allowed to slide in Western content, such as not being authentic, suspension of disbelief, etc. But when it comes to local content, they are much less forgiving. They are drilled down on the literalness of what they see, and it's something we collectively must try to get people over,' said Ross. People expect a certain format each Ramadan, and when that cycle is broken they don't necessarily support it. As platforms change with shorter series, and are not designed to fit with Ramadan, fresher ideas and concepts will take shape and audiences will be retrained to accept newer formats. 'If we want to see a change in this industry, the private sector must come in at some stage; otherwise, we are never going to see the growth that we should' – Hussein Fakhri, Chief Commercial Officer and Executive Producer, Katara Studios 'The traditional 30-episode story was the heritage of TV. But it is changing and today we have interesting stories, successful miniseries that are made in 10 or 15 episodes or less and being very popular, and not made in a special way just to fit in Ramadan. Gradually, things will change,' said Al Omair. With exciting developments in narrative scale, format and platform adaptation, Arabic content creation looks set to surge ahead. Backed by the government, a driven private sector can boost the content scene, making it more creative, commercial and competitive while enriching the ecosystem and enhancing viewer engagement.
