Launching the “Best Arabic Podcast” award to motivate creators

"Dubai Budvest" .. the audio content looks forward to its horizons from the city of the future

• Mona Al-Marri: We are proud of the network of relations that brings together the Dubai Press Club with the most important content makers in the Arab world.

  Photography: Ashok Verma

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With a look at the future and promising prospects, the work of the second session of “Dubai Podvest” was launched yesterday, the largest forum of its kind for audio content makers in the Arab world, which is organized by the Dubai Press Club, with the participation of a group of the most prominent developers and presenters of “podcast” programs in the region to discuss the requirements for developing This new sector is within the digital media environment.

Mona Ghanem Al-Marri, Vice President and Managing Director of the Dubai Media Council, President of the Dubai Press Club, confirmed that “Dubai has given the media sector great attention that was embodied two decades ago through the directives of His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai. To establish a strong infrastructure developed by Dubai at the service of Emirati, Arab and international media institutions, to transform, with the accession of major media institutions in the region and the world, into a major media center in the region.

She said, "Dubai is the city of the future..and its media and technology leadership over many years establishes its worth in leading efforts to create future media in a rapidly evolving technical environment. within this sector.

Al-Marri added: “We are proud of the wide network of relations that brings together the Dubai Press Club with the most important and prominent content makers in the Arab world, and we are keen to document these ties and upgrade them to provide qualitative additions to enhance the process of Arab media work, in order to complement the numerous initiatives launched by the club over more than 20 years. years.. the Arab media stands on the cusp of a new phase.. and Dubai is keen to have a major role in shaping its features.

She explained: “We will work closely with the most prominent players in the podcasting sector and the podcast industry in the region and the world, whether at the level of institutions or individuals, in order to discover creative talents in this field, support their development and provide them with the expertise necessary for excellence and provide high-level Arabic audio content, through Programs and initiatives will be organized during the next stage, to develop the region’s balance of creative content makers, to confirm its growth and sustainability opportunities.

Continue the dialogue

For her part, the Director of the Dubai Press Club, Dr. Maitha Buhumaid, confirmed during her speech at the opening of the forum that “this meeting comes to continue a dialogue that supports a goal to bring together all the projects and initiatives of the Dubai Press Club, which is to confirm the positive contribution of Dubai and the UAE in advancing the media development process in the region, inspired by the vision of His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, and his highness was keen on possessing the Arab media with the tools and skills that enable it to provide advanced content that serves society and supports its path towards the future.

She revealed the launch of a new award to encourage the audio blogging industry in the Arab world.

She said, "From Dubai, the city of the future... the destination of Arab media... and the first destination for content makers in the region... I am pleased to announce, under the directives of His Highness Sheikh Ahmed bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Chairman of the Dubai Media Council, the launch of a new category within the Communication Pioneers Award." Arab Social, which is the award for the best podcast in the Arab world, in terms of spread, influence, and presentation style, to be a new catalyst for creativity and excellence in this field.

Buhumaid pointed out the importance of this meeting, which brings together the most prominent audio content makers and podcast makers in the Arab world, in order to draw a clear picture of the state of podcasting in our Arab world, identify the requirements for its development, monitor the elements of its excellence, and guarantees of its continuity, confirming the impact of “Dubai Podvest” as a new starting point for the sector. It is estimated that the number of his listeners around the world is expected to reach more than half a billion by 2024, compared to about 275 million in 2019.

Pillars of success

For his part, Daniel Carlson, Vice President of Market Development for the Middle East and North Africa region and global strategy at Triton International, said during his keynote speech at the forum that the podcast industry is witnessing great and rapid development in the Arab world, in light of the continuous increase in the number of podcast channels, whether In Arabic or English, especially in the Gulf region.

He added that the consumption of "podcasts" has grown significantly in the region and the world in general, during the past few years, as the "Covid-19" pandemic was one of the most important reasons behind this large boom in the number of followers, with the change it caused in media consumption patterns in general, pointing out He pointed out that the audio content industry awaits a promising future in light of the current figures and statistics for this industry at the level of the Arab region, citing a study prepared by the “Next Broadcast Media” company, which showed a significant growth in the size of the podcast advertising market, especially in the UAE and Saudi Arabia.

Carlson, through his long experience in this field, provided advice to audio content makers, foremost of which is focusing on good content, which is one of the most important ingredients for the continuity of a successful podcast, in parallel with the early interest in planning to launch the podcast in a financial model that guarantees profitability, which in turn ensures continuity.

And he stressed the importance of the "promotion" element, to ensure spread and increase the number of followers, and the necessity of joining the efforts of emerging podcasts in the early stages of their launch, and not viewing other podcasts as "competition", while he considered that competition is with other platforms and not with blogs. Another audio, as cooperation between podcasts can contribute to the joint promotion of these blogs.

Mona Al-Marri:

"Dubai's media and technology leadership over many years has established its worth in leading efforts to create future media in a rapidly evolving technical environment."

Maitha Buhumaid:

"The forum paints a clear picture of the state of audio blogging in our Arab world, defining the requirements for its development, monitoring the elements of its excellence, and guarantees of its continuity."

Daniel Carlson:

"Podcast makers should focus on good content, which is one of the most important ingredients for success ... in addition to the element of promotion to ensure spread."

Professional product

The “Dubai Podvest” discussions dealt with the future of “podcasts” in the Arab world, the requirements for converting audio content into a professional product, and enhancing the growth rates of the market for this media service, which is witnessing large global growth rates, as well as the role of media institutions and platforms in supporting this trend led by Dubai as The city of the future and a pivotal center for media in the region and the starting point for its advanced activities, as well as its position as one of the most important markets for podcasting and audio content production in the Arab world.

275

Two million podcast listeners in 2019. It is expected that the number will reach half a billion listeners in 2024.

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