Middle East Media And Entertainment Market Size

Middle East Media & Entertainment Market Analysis

The Middle East Media And Entertainment Market size is estimated at USD 42.72 billion in 2024, and is expected to reach USD 66.99 billion by 2029, growing at a CAGR of 9.41% during the forecast period (2024-2029).

The media and entertainment industry of the region is undergoing significant transformation. Cultural shifts among the region's young people have spawned considerable traction, and untapped demand for local Arabic content will spur regional media to grow considerably.

• The media and entertainment (M&E) industry has been one of the first business sectors to steer digital disruption, and its transformation is far from over. As critical networks and studios continue to unveil their direct-to-consumer streaming facilities in 2021, players are likely to scramble to propose content libraries wide enough to both attract and hold customers, permitting and generating chances and opportunities for media and entertainment companies to re-aggregate their content libraries with a comprehensive collection of offerings, from music, video, and gaming services to ad-supported content.
• The increasing penetration of mobile internet services further supports the studied market's growth. For instance, according to GSMA, in 2021, the number of mobile internet users in MENA exceeded 300 million, with penetration expected to reach 50% of the population by the end of 2022.
• Social media usage has also been growing across Saudi Arabia, a trend of interest to agencies, brands, and media companies alike for advertisements. For instance, according to the World Association of News Publishers, people in the MENA region spend a lot of time on social media, averaging about 3.5 hours a day, across platforms.
• Moreover, paid and digital media evolutions have created new rationales for investments. These changes give regional media players a chance to reset their business models, explore investments in high-quality local content, and offer global players, in particular, a reason to re-evaluate their presence in the region.
• Furthermore, the new pay-tv and OTT players are increasingly populating the market dominated by free-to-air, direct-to-home (DTH) broadcasting until now. GCC countries are significantly investing in upgrading technology due to various nations' broadband initiatives to support OTT platforms. An increasing number of broadcasting networks such as influx, Starz Play, Istikana, and Netflix, operating globally and locally, offer subscription-based VOD services for viewers in the region.
• However, the region is relatively more restricted compared to other parts of the world. It's still traditionally set up as carriage-only deals, which means broadcasters and operators do not have the full freedom to optimize revenues from areas such as creativity in terms of content creation and ad insertion.
• Owing to the COVID-19 pandemic, the media and entertainment industry in the region suffered significantly. Although the consumption of media and entertainment content in digital mediums witnessed an upward trend as people were spending more time at home. However, the restriction on outdoor activities significantly impacted the business of a section of the media & entertainment industry, such as movie theaters.