DMC built the cradle for the ‘cluster model’, grouping broadcasters, digital agencies, and publishers into a specialized tax-free environment, offering 100 percent foreign ownership, zero personal or import duties, and 100 percent repatriation of profits for companies operating within the media sector.
By Hadi Khatib
Where winds once weaved tales of ancient sands, the UAE desert hums of glitter, glamor and coves of expression that only a futuristic media landscape in Dubai can bring.
2026 marks the passing of a quarter-century since HH Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, inaugurated Dubai Media City (DMC), a milestone worth celebrating having transformed a golden ocean of dunes into one of the world’s most treasured media ecosystems.
DMC is host to 40,000+ creative professionals, where over 60 percent of the media industry’s Fortune 500 companies reside.
Ammar Al Malik, Executive VP of Commercial at TECOM Group, and Majed Al Suwaidi, Senior VP of Dubai Media City, Dubai Production City, and Dubai Studio City, said during the 2025/2026 25th Anniversary briefings that Dubai Media City was designed as a testing ground for new media business models, allowing companies to innovate without legacy constraints.
DMC is part of TECOM Group’s portfolio of 10 sector-specific business districts, each pioneering in their own unique ways, including Dubai Internet City, Dubai Production City, Dubai Studio City, Dubai Design District (d3), to mention a few.
The making of an innovation hub
DMC built the cradle for the ‘cluster model’, grouping broadcasters, digital agencies, and publishers into a specialized tax-free environment, offering 100 percent foreign ownership, zero personal or import duties, and 100 percent repatriation of profits for companies operating within the media sector.
The early years were marked by operations as a traditional print and broadcast hub, but grew to become a global leader in digital content, prominently adopting AI. The cluster’s prominence led to Dubai being named ‘Capital of Arab Media’ between 2020 and 2021.
The establishment of regional headquarters for global giants like CNN, Discovery Networks, WPP, Publicis Groupe, Reuters, BBC, Bloomberg, MBC, OSN, and later Meta, Google, TikTok, and Amazon, among many others is a badge of honor for any market location, especially a pioneering one like DMC. This global density of mega names in the field enabled faster adoption of satellite broadcasting, digital newsrooms, OTT distribution, programmatic advertising, and later creator-economy infrastructure.
“For independent creators, DMC provided infrastructure, visas, and market access. That combination is rare.” Joe Kawkabani who served as Group CEO at OSN until 2025 said, explaining why Dubai became the regional “headquarters of choice” for the media company.
The growth of its Media Cluster as a broadcasting base for news and entertainment in major global languages including Arabic, English, German, Hindi, Chinese, and Tagalog is testimony to DMC’s commitment to innovation and integration with future-oriented tech, such as the InstaBlock Lab, launched in 2025 in partnership with LaLiga. The lab was established through a collaboration between the UAE Ministry of Economy and Spanish professional football league LaLiga. It applies advanced algorithms to identify and block pirated streams within seconds.
“The launch of the InstaBlock Lab in Dubai Media City represents a paradigm shift. For the first time, we have the technical and regulatory framework to protect broadcast rights in real-time, ensuring that Dubai remains the most trusted partner for global sports and entertainment entities,” Javier Tebas, President of LaLiga announced.
From state-of-the-art labs in Dubai Science Park to the MENA’s largest sound stages located in Dubai Studio City, TECOM has bred innovation, fueled by technological expertise.
“The visionary leadership of HH Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum has firmly established Dubai Media City as a globally leading hub. For 25 years, we have played a pivotal role in attracting and nurturing accomplished media leaders, contributing significantly to the nation’s knowledge- and innovation-based economy,” Al Suwaidi, recently said.
A knowledge-based economic machine
The Dubai Economic Agenda D33 is helping transition DMC into a hyper-connected, AI-first ecosystem. By 2023–2024, DMC entities were central to regional experimentation with AI-assisted production, real-time newsroom analytics, cloud-based broadcast workflows, and multilingual content.
By 2030, it aims to secure a global digital creative economy projected to reach AED 27 trillion ($7.35 trillion), according to D33 estimates.
Expansions like the Innovation Hub Phase 4, Dubai’s TECOM status is further solidified as a global destination for high-value talent and tech-driven creative commerce.
TECOM’s integrated approach helped create a knowledge-based economy via the sharing of ingenuity and out of the box ideas. In 2026, TECOM’s ecosystem supports over 3,500 customers and tens of thousands of professionals across diverse sectors, who somehow feed on each other’s creative outputs.
Research from FTI Consulting, launched at the 2026 World Governments Summit, indicates that for each $1 invested in creative industries in hubs like d3 generates approximately $2.50 in overall economic output, benefiting the tourism, manufacturing, and real-time retail sectors.
Beacon for Greenfield FDI
DMC and the broader TECOM districts have attracted greenfield FDI, particularly from US, European, and Asian media and technology firms seeking regional headquarters, initiating projects in completely new environments. For the third consecutive year in 2024, according to the Creative Dubai 2024 Impact Report, Dubai became the premier destination for greenfield FDI in cultural and creative industries.
Further supporting TECOM’s mandate, the city recorded over 970 projects in this sector alone, generating AED 18.86 billion ($5.13 billion) in FDI inflows. These investments generated spillover benefits including job creation, estimated at over 23,500 new employment opportunities.
Such capital inflows give birth to high-profile deals birthed in TECOM ecosystems, such as Uber’s AED 11.3 billion ($3.1 billion) acquisition of Careem and Amazon’s purchase of Souq.com for $580 million.
By early 2026, d3 cemented its reputation as the primary go-to place for greenfield FDI, becoming home to international fashion houses, design studios, and architectural firms, built from the ground up.
D3 reported that in H1 2025, Dubai attracted 643 Greenfield FDI projects citywide, representing AED 40.4 billion ($11 billion) in capital, or 62 percent higher than in 2024, mostly aimed at ‘Creative Industry’ projects anchored in design district.
For their part, Meraas and Dubai Holding unveiled a massive 18 million sqft expansion of d3 in January 2026 that transforms the business zone into a fully integrated waterfront neighborhood.
Supporting Entrepreneurs
In5 is a startup incubator by TECOM Group, operating at several locations across Dubai’s business parks, including Dubai Internet City (in5 Tech), d3 (in5 Design), and Dubai Science Park (in5 Science).
The hubs offer specialized co-working spaces, prototyping and 3D printing labs, and media facilities in support to would be founders who launched over 1,100 start-ups, collectively raising more than AED 9 billion ($2.45 billion) in funding.
Also, TECOM’s GoFreelance platform offers a simplified, cost-effective license for independent professionals, acting as a one-stop-shop for freelance permits and visas. This initiative has successfully attracted a massive pool of global talent, allowing creatives to operate legally within the DMC and other hubs.
“Dubai Media City legitimized creative freelancing long before it became globally accepted.” Rola Diab, Founder, Baraka Consulting, recently said.
Freelancers in DMC benefit from UAE-wide remote-work frameworks, and IP protections, giving Dubai a competitive advantage matching London, Singapore, and Los Angeles as a creative hub.“The UAE’s media free zones helped normalize IP protection across MENA,” Habip Asan, the Director of the Division for Transition and Developed Countries (TDC) at the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) Middle East recently said.
Based on the TECOM Group FY 2025 Financial Results, released February 3, 2026, Dubai’s freelance sector grew by 15 percent annually in 2025. Media and Design freelance licenses within TECOM (Dubai Media City and d3) reported a 40 percent annual rise in 2025. The GoFreelance initiative, which covers tech, media, education, and design across TECOM’s districts, remains the primary vehicle for this growth with over 100.000 professionals spread between 7800 + companies and freelancers. The freelance and services surge contributed to TECOM Group’s record-breaking overall performance with revenues reaching AED 2.9 billion ($790 million), up 19 percent yoy.
Soft Power
Hosting global newsrooms and content producers positioned Dubai as a genuine platform for international dialogue, tolerance, coexistence, and cultural exchange, adding to UAE’s soft power. Ranked in the top ten globally, the UAE leverages its image as a modern and diverse hub connecting East and West to build international prestige and diplomatic, economic, and cultural influence. “Dubai Media City became a soft- power export, shaping how the Arab world tells its stories globally,” H.E. Mona Al Marri, VP, UAE Media Council, recently said.
Add to soft power the hard fact that DMC is truly an inspiration that spins creativity into new realms, no matter where anyone calls home, no matter the biome.
