From billion-dollar bets to tighter rules and AI-driven growth, 2025 witnessed important deals, launches, and regulatory shifts in the Middle East and North Africa media industry. Here is a wrap of some these developments.
Digital Growth Trajectory
The MENA media landscape entered a transformative era of digital dominance, with the market projected to soar from $17 billion in 2024 to $20.6 billion by 2028. This steady 4.9 percent CAGR is fueled by a rapid pivot to digital-first formats; advertising remains the industry’s powerhouse—capturing 38 percent of the total market—while internet advertising ($7.2 percent CAGR) and gaming ($4.4 percent CAGR) outpace traditional media, which continues to recede, according to report, ‘Arab Media Outlook – Future Vision’, released by Dubai Media Club.
Influencer advertising spending in MENA is forecast to reach approximately $703 million in 2025, driven by strong uptake in Saudi Arabia and the UAE, while digital video ad spending in MENA is projected to reach $2.8 billion in 2025, with mobile video dominating consumption.
Social media advertising expenditure in MENA is projected at $4.26 billion in 2025, according to Statista. Growth is fueled by mobile-first users, improved targeting tools, and strong advertiser demand across Instagram, TikTok, YouTube, and emerging short-video platforms.
Much of this growth will be AI-driven, experts have said.
Sovereign-led Big-ticket Deals
Sovereign wealth funds, AI infrastructure, and gaming drove MENA’s biggest media dealmaking year.
PIF’s Global Media Play
Shareholders approved a landmark $55 billion acquisition of Electronic Arts (EA) by Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (PIF). Partnering with Silver Lake and Affinity Partners, PIF is taking the gaming titan private after 40 years on the public market. The deal allows EA to develop major franchises like EA Sports FC and Battlefield without the scrutiny of quarterly earnings reports.
Arab SWFs in high-stakes Paramount bid for Warner Bros
Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (PIF), the Qatar Investment Authority (QIA), and Abu Dhabi’s L’imad Holding have formed an unprecedented alliance to back Paramount Skydance’s $108.4 billion hostile bid for Warner Bros Discovery (WBD). Collectively pledging $24 billion toward the offer, these Gulf sovereign wealth funds are providing nearly three-fifths of the total equity required to challenge a rival bid from Netflix.
Aramco-Groq AI Deal
Saudi Aramco Digital inked $1.5bn with Groq for AI cloud expansion and Dammam’s massive inferencing data center. This boosts regional AI infrastructure, powering ad tech amid Vision 2030.
Global Gatherings
Flagship events positioned the region as a global hub for media, marketing, and innovation.
Red Sea International Film Festival
The Red Sea International Film Festival in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia remained a premier regional cultural and film media event. It showcased international and Arab films, hosted discussions and industry panels, and significantly raised Saudi Arabia’s profile in global cinema and media conversations.
GSMA MWC25 Doha
While rooted in tech and telecom, MWC25 Doha (Mobile World Congress) became a major media event because it highlighted digital transformation, AI, 5G, and content delivery platforms. It brought global leaders and media/technology innovators together, reinforcing the GCC’s role at the convergence of media, tech, and communications industries.
Arab Media Summit 2025
The three-day event in Dubai attracted over 6,000 media professionals, tech founders, journalists and influencers to explore digital innovation, content strategy, and future media models, underpinning the region’s role as a global hub for media discourse.
Money20/20-Middle East
The Riyadh fintech event hosted global leaders, 450 speakers and substantial deal announcements, underscoring the intersection of advertising, innovation and financial technology ecosystems.
Platforms Go Local
Global platforms doubled down on localization, AI, and youth strategies across MENA markets.
Google AI Initiatives
Google launched the AI Opportunity Initiative, its largest AI project in MENA, training half a million people in AI skills over two years with a $15M grant for organizations through 2027. This empowers marketers for AI-powered campaigns, future-proofing talent in UAE, Saudi Arabia, and beyond.
Microsoft Holiday Strategies
Microsoft Advertising released META holiday insights for Middle East, urging AI-cultural personalization for sales peaks in UAE and Saudi. Search intent data from InMobi drives emotion-led campaigns across festive periods.
Apple Saudi Ecosystem Build
Apple launched a 2025 Arabic online store in Saudi Arabia with “Buy Now, Pay Later” partnerships and developer training, targeting premium experiences. Physical stores planned for 2026 lock in loyalty via localized marketing.
Reuters Arabic Language Website
Reuters launched its new Arabic website, marking the company’s third dedicated language platform in addition to English and Japanese. Reuters said it will provide Arabic speakers with comprehensive, trusted and non-national coverage of breaking news, politics, business and finance, sports, climate, human interest, technology, entertainment and more, with over 100 Arabic-language stories daily.
Publicis-Snapchat Youth Studio
Publicis Groupe Middle East partnered with Snapchat to launch Youth Studio in the GCC, helping brands decode Gen Z and Gen Alpha behavior. The initiative focuses on cultural insights, platform-native creativity, and youth-driven content strategies.
Tighter Digital Guardrails
New media laws tightened oversight, professionalizing digital advertising and influencer economies region-wide.
UAE Federal Media Law
UAE enacted a comprehensive Federal Media Law on May 29, 2025, enforced by the Media Council, regulating traditional and digital platforms with fines up to Dh2 million for violations like misinformation or moral breaches. It mandates licensing and content standards, professionalizing social media ads via the Mu’lin permit.
Saudi Arabia Media Rules
Saudi Arabia introduced 2025 Media Rules via GCAM in October, banning vulgarity, wealth flaunting, and divisive content on digital platforms, applicable to citizens and foreigners. Penalties include fines, removals, and bans, aligning online expression with national values while spurring creator licensing.
Kuwait Influencer Regulations
Kuwait advanced its new Media Law in 2025, requiring licenses for influencer ads to combat fraud in sectors like real estate, with electronic approvals based on reach and product legality from ministries. While a full draft was under consideration by October, it tightened social promotions.
