Middle East Media Predictions 2026

By Richard Fitzgerald

Now in its annual edition, the Media Predictions by Richard Fitzgerald, CEO & Founder of Augustus Media aim to map where momentum is building — not just where headlines already exist.

These predictions reflect directional shifts, emerging power centres, and strategic tensions shaping the region’s media ecosystem.

Any references to mergers, acquisitions, or consolidation are forward-looking speculation, informed by market dynamics and public signals, and are included to encourage discussion rather than suggest certainty.

1. 2026 Will Be the Year of CTV
   The “year of” never means twelve months; it signals maturity. Social, programmatic, mobile, and influencers all followed the same curve. In 2026, connected TV reaches its tipping point in the Middle East. While audio and CTV will compete for incremental budgets, the region’s ecosystem of inventory, platforms, talent, and buyer readiness gives CTV the edge.
2. YouTube Becomes More Like Netflix, Netflix Becomes More Like YouTube
   YouTube continues its evolution into a premium, subscription-led platform with regional originals, live events, and curated programming. In MENA, this is visible through long-form creator franchises, live sports experimentation, and brand-funded originals. At the same time, Netflix increasingly behaves like YouTube, leaning into short-form discovery, mobile-first viewing, algorithmic feeds, and ad-supported tiers. The two platforms are converging from opposite ends of the spectrum.
3. AI Apps Like Sora Will Become Mainstream Consumer Platforms
   Sora-style AI apps will define a new category of consumer platforms, blending creation, utility, and entertainment into a single experience. These products will not feel like tools, but destinations. In 2026, AI apps begin competing directly with social platforms, streaming services, and games for daily attention.
4. AI-Native Entertainment Will Go Mass Market
   AI-generated entertainment, including AI Slob-style formats, will cross into mainstream culture. Personalised, interactive, endlessly generative content creates a new category of AI-native entertainment that competes directly with traditional media for time spent, particularly among younger audiences.
5. Retail Media Becomes the Fastest-Growing Ad Channel in MENA
   Retail media will be the fastest-growing advertising channel in the region. Major retailers, marketplaces, and super apps will unlock first-party data and on-platform media at scale, turning owned demand into monetisable inventory. As commerce, media, and data converge, budgets will shift away from traditional display and performance channels toward retail-led media ecosystems.
6. Data Alliances Will Replace Isolated DMP Strategies
   Standalone DMPs will no longer be enough. Publishers, telcos, retailers, and platforms will prioritise data alliances built on shared identity frameworks and clean-room partnerships rather than isolated data stacks. These federated approaches will unlock cross-platform monetisation, improve addressability in a privacy-first world, and allow regional players to compete with global platforms at scale.
7. Corporate-Funded New Media Brands Will Accelerate
   Not corporate-owned, but corporate-funded. More media brands will be built around sponsorship, brand alignment, and creator-led formats rather than traditional newsroom economics. Lovin and FWD Start are early regional examples. In the US, Brian Morrissey’s The Rebooting highlighted TBPN as a standout case, a creator-led brand built on livestreams and newsletters rather than search traffic or legacy ad models. This approach increasingly defines how new media brands are born in the Middle East.
8. Creators Will Become Bankable Assets
   A globally recognised star will sign an exclusive regional audio deal, marking the return of big-budget, talent-led audio. Separately, a single creator or creator-led media company will receive a multi-million-dollar direct investment from a regional fund or VC, formally validating creators as investable assets rather than marketing channels.
9. Podeo Will Break Through as the Podcast Buying Layer
   Founded in Lebanon in 2020, Podeo came into its own in 2025 as a regional podcast marketplace. Top creators such as Mo Show and Huda Beauty hosted content on the platform, while major advertisers, including FAB, Emirates, and Red Sea Global invested. With over six billion dollars in annual digital advertising spend across the region, Podeo is well-positioned to become the default podcast buying and monetisation layer in the Middle East.
10. VUZ Will Pivot to Full-Scale Streaming
    VUZ dropping “360” from its name was telling. While immersive formats remain exciting, VR and the metaverse have not gone mainstream. Consumers still want to watch major moments in simple, familiar formats. With strong UX, premium IP partnerships, and polished apps, the natural evolution is a pivot toward major sports or live-event rights.
11. IPG and Omnicom Will Merge, and Others Will Follow
    The IPG and Omnicom merger will mark the beginning, not the end, of agency consolidation. At least one additional global holding company combination will follow, forcing aggressive rationalisation across MENA. Multiple legacy agency brands will be shut down or quietly retired as overlapping networks collapse into fewer operating units, triggering widespread talent displacement and client reshuffling.
12. Meta and TikTok Will Tighten Control of the Creator Economy
    Short-form video remains the dominant attention and advertising format. Meta and TikTok will continue refining monetisation, commerce, and creator tools, but with tighter platform control. Revenue share, distribution, and discovery become increasingly opaque, pushing top creators to diversify into owned platforms, audio, and long-form video.
13. ARN and DMI Will Merge
    This is a bold prediction, but an increasingly logical one. The distinction between text, audio, and video has effectively disappeared. ARN and DMI were once part of the same ecosystem, and market conditions now favour reconsolidation. With DMI’s strengthened digital sales operation and ARN delivering solid revenue performance, the path to consolidation, scale, and an eventual DFM listing becomes realistic.
14. MBC Will Acquire OSN+ and Anghami
    The signals are already visible. The OSN+, Disney+, and Shahid three-for-two bundle signalled reduced competitive friction. With MBC already owning a stake in Anghami and backed by PIF, the most logical next step is MBC acquiring OSN+ and consolidating Anghami into a single regional streaming group to counter Netflix at scale.
15. StarzPlay Will IPO at Approximately 700 Million Dollars
    StarzPlay will successfully open its IPO window with a valuation of around seven hundred million dollars, proving that profitability rather than raw subscriber scale is the defining metric for OTT success in MENA. This becomes the benchmark valuation for the regional streaming sector.
16. One Major Arab Newspaper Will Shut Down
    The warning signs are clear: repeated layoffs, sustained losses, and aggressive cost-cutting. These measures buy time, but once they fail, there are no levers left. As government support shifts toward digital communication platforms with greater reach and relevance, at least one major Arab newspaper will quietly cease operations in 2026.
17. Newsletters Are on the Rise as Websites Plateau

Globally, platforms like Ghost, Beehive, and Substack have seen rapid growth, with Substack evolving beyond simple newsletters. In the Middle East, a new startup called HodHod is aiming to fill this software gap for Arabic newsletters. As websites face declining engagement, direct-to-audience newsletters will become a primary channel for creators, publishers, and brands to reach loyal readers.

Bonus Prediction
A telco or tech platform, rather than a traditional broadcaster will acquire a significant portion of the 2026 World Cup MENA rights, using it to drive mass adoption of a super app or bundled ecosystem.