DMC, DPC launch e-book edition for Arab Media Outlook report

Dubai Media City, DMC, and Dubai Press Club, DPC, announced on Wednesday the launch of the e-book edition of the "Arab Media Outlook, 2016-2018: Youth..Content..Digital" report.

Available in an interactive digital format that conforms with the digital transformation era, the report reflects Dubai’s strategy and approach to becoming amongst the world’s smartest cities. The e-book is meant to reach a broader audience across the region, and is targeted at the Arab world’s media professionals, academics, and students, as well as those looking to expand their knowledge of the media ecosystem.

The launch of the e-book comes at a time of rapid industry transformation that witnesses the growing impact of media and the adoption of social media platforms. The report also highlights key issues that require more effort, research and investment in the coming years as the media landscape evolves, covering key trends, changes and developments of the Arab media landscape in 14 Arab countries.

Majed Al Suwaidi, Managing Director of Dubai Media City, Dubai Studio City and Dubai Production City, said, "The media landscape across our region is rapidly evolving, with Dubai playing a leading role in the industry’s transformation. The Arab Media Report brings to the fore credible insights and an outlook for the industry with the emergence of new channels, tools and platforms for media professionals."

"The efforts in developing this report is commendable, and makes this a definitive guide for entrepreneurs and established businesses who are looking to achieve growth in a new era for media. This report underlines our partnership with the Dubai Press Club, to drive industry-wide progress as the ways we create and consume content is changing," he added.

Director of the Dubai Press Club, Alia Al Theeb, said the publishing of the e-book edition of the report comes in line with Dubai's smart strategy, and the emirate’s smart transformation. "Digital publishing serves as an efficient means to build bridges of communication with different cultures and civilisations. The Arab region’s media industry has an important role to play in this."

Al Theeb confirmed that the fifth version of the report provides a clear insight into the media landscape for the coming era and the changes and developments it will witness.

She added, "These kind of reports are very important because they present in-depth information and key outcomes that should be addressed in research and analysis to identify the optimal ways to pursue the media development journey in accordance with the latest dynamics and changes imposed by the new media era."

Al Theeb continued, "The report serves as an important reference that offers reliable data to understand and analyse the changes in the media landscape in 14 Arab countries, in addition to future outlooks and trends, and represents a helpful and supportive tool for decision-making and policy development for the media sector.

The report provides media sector professionals with a detailed map with great deal of important data on continuously growing media sectors and how best to leverage them, as well as identifying best channels of communication with the content consumer.

It conducts an in-depth research and quantitative study including social media users in various areas of the Arab world, in addition to discussion groups of social media influencers. Social networking platforms were researched thoroughly including Snapchat, Periscope, Twitter, Facebook, Whatsapp, Instagram, YouTube, Google, and LinkedIn focusing on outlooks for social media channels and the expected updates and improvements in terms of use, content type, and preference.

The overall regional media market is expected to grow to US$12.4 billion by 2018. The key dynamic changing the region’s media industry is youth engagement on digital platforms, with an increasing young population aged under 24 compromising almost 50 percent of the region, which is double that of many developed countries including the United States of America and the United Kingdom.

The report provides figures and numbers that help in understanding the social and economic impacts of social media in the Arab world from the viewpoint of social media users, economists, media and communication experts, and government officials, by highlighting use patterns of social media in the Arab world, in addition to measuring user impressions on the various channels.

The report showcases ways to keep up with this growing trend by exploring appropriate solutions and alternatives that ensure that the Arab media sector stay competitive. In addition, the report highlights the importance of finding ways to ensure the successful combination of digital platforms on one hand, and press, television, and radio, on the other hand, and using these platforms to support media in its conventional form to grow and maintain its position.