YouTube has launched a new hub called Batala especially for female creators from the MENA, featuring more than 100 female creators from the region.
Announced during an event in Riyadh, the channel has more than 1,000 videos and is categorized by genres such as comedy, education, fitness, and many more. The hub will also highlight a new list of creators every month at the top of the channel.
“With the continuing growth of female content creators in MENA, we want to keep the momentum going. With YouTube Batala, discovering new creators and their work is now easier than ever. The hub highlights the work of some of our best creators in the region, and showcases high-quality Arabic content to YouTube’s one billion users,” says Diana Baddar, head of YouTube Partnerships in the MENA, in a statement
YouTube Batala highlights creators like Njoud Al Shammari, a lifestyle YouTuber from Saudi Arabia, Enji Aboul Seoud, an amateur film critic from Egypt, and Haifa Bseiso, a travel vlogger from Palestine. It also features top creators such as Noor Stars and Hayla Ghazal, who each have more than two million subscribers.
The announcement comes as the supply and demand of female-related content continues to grow on the platform. In the MENA alone, the total number of hours spent watching female-related videos has grown by 50 percent in 2015. While in KSA, the Consumer Connected Survey found that 63 percent of Saudi females are motivated to watch their most recent online video sensation to be entertained or inspired.
