Agenda

WELCOME SPEECH

Vijaya Cherian, Editorial Director, BroadcastPro Middle East

KEYNOTE OPENER: FIRESIDE CHAT
Setting the Context: Saudi Arabia and the Future of Arab Content – locally and regionally
A look at Saudi Arabia’s role in shaping Arab content and media, and how national ambition is helping define long-term success for the Arab media ecosystem

• Esra Assery, Deputy Minister, Head of Sector Development, Ministry of Media, KSA
• Shahid Khan, Partner, Global Head of Media, Entertainment, Sports and Culture at Arthur D. Little (ADL)

PANEL DISCUSSION
Monetisation in a Digital-First Arab Media Market

• How evolving audience behaviour is transforming advertising, subscription models, and content rights, particularly in streaming-first markets and Saudi Arabia’s mobile-first, platform-experimenting audiences
• Maximising revenue across streaming, linear, social, and mobile-first platforms, with practical insights for multi-platform strategies
• FAST, AVOD, SVOD, and hybrid models in MENA: what works, where, and why — highlighting vendor opportunities in analytics, platform integration and monetisation
• The growing role of global social and platform ecosystems in audience discovery and monetisation, and how third-party platforms are integrated into advertising and revenue strategies alongside owned services
• Defining and achieving sustainable growth: balancing audience reach, engagement, monetisation and operational efficiency across all platforms

Moderator

Paritosh Mukhija, Partner | Media, Entertainment, Sports & Culture, Arthur D. Little

Confirmed Panelists

• Dom Wilkins, Head of OSN Channels, OSN
• Dr. William Page, Co-Founder, Chief Strategy & Innovation Officer, 1001
• Jad Saab, Digital Growth Lead , MBC Media Solutions
• Jose Rita Azize, Director of Original Content & Sponsorships, StarzPlay
• Samer Majzoub, General Manager MENA and South Africa, Viu

FIRESIDE CHAT
How New Audience Data Is Reshaping Our Understanding of Linear TV
Exploring a world-first measurement approach with major implications for broadcasters and advertisers

• Badis Khaldi, Founder and CEO, Audimatic
• Vijaya Cherian, Editorial Director, BroadcastPro ME magazine

PANEL DISCUSSION
Future-Proofing Broadcast: Infrastructure, Cloud, AI and Networks Across MENA

• Designing scalable broadcast and production infrastructure that supports mega events, daily operations, and hybrid workflows — including OB, playout, CDNs and network distribution
• Exploring cloud adoption in the region: hybrid models, latency and network optimisation, cost efficiency and integration challenges
• AI applications that deliver measurable impact across production, newsroom operations, content compliance, audience engagement and signal management
• Data sovereignty, cybersecurity, and regulatory compliance as strategic drivers shaping technology investment and operational decisions in MENA

Moderator

Paul Wallis, CEO, Granite MENA

Confirmed Panelists

• Dominic Farrell, Group CTO, MBC Group
• Geert Thoelen, Director of Technology, Alamiya Media KSA
• Omran Abdallah, CTO, Asharq News
• Stuart Almond, Senior Vice President of Global Sales, Qvest

PANEL DISCUSSION
Content at Every Scale: Film, Drama, Microdramas and Distribution

• The role of feature films, premium drama, unscripted formats, and microdramas within the evolving Arab content ecosystem
• Saudi Arabia’s growing importance as a production and filming hub, from incentives and studios to diverse locations, and what this means for regional and international co-productions
• Using short-form and microdramas as IP incubators and audience-testing tools, before scaling to long-form drama or feature films
• Distribution strategies across theatrical, broadcast, streaming, and mobile, and how Arab stories can travel regionally and globally while monetising across platforms

Moderator

Sarah Btaddini, Managing Director, ThreeSixtyPlus

Confirmed Panelists

• Amanda Turnbull, CEO and Founder, Rise Studios
• Fadi Ismail, Founder, DKL Studio and Partner, Goldfinch International
• Firas Dehni, Director of Scripted Production, MBC Studios
• Fouad Alkhateeb, Executive Producer
• Sayed Fenianos, Founder and Chairman of Scene Platform

PANEL DISCUSSION
Sports, Live Events and Regional Broadcast Innovation

• How mega sporting events are accelerating production standards across the Arab world
• Building local and regional broadcast capability, including production crews, studios, and operational workflows that meet international benchmarks
• Remote production and scalable workflows that enable high-quality broadcasts with efficiency and flexibility
• Innovative approaches to distribution, including social media platforms, OTT, and collaborations to reach wider and younger audiences
• Turning one-off events into lasting production ecosystems, ensuring knowledge transfer, repeatable workflows, and long-term ROI for broadcasters

Moderator

Joe Morrison, Live Television Broadcaster | Saudi Pro League

Confirmed Panelists

• Miguel Caso, Chief Broadcast Officer, Alamiya
• Neil McKeown, Executive Producer, IMG
• Peter Van Dam, Chief Broadcasting Officer, Saudi Pro League
• Samah Raydan, VP Dentsu Sports Analytics, MENA

PANEL DISCUSSION
Operationalising AI Across the Media Value Chain

• Where AI is beginning to appear across film, broadcast and series workflows, from development and post to localisation and versioning
• How broadcast and streaming teams are experimenting with AI for scheduling, packaging, discovery and performance analysis, and where human judgement still leads
• How creative leaders are protecting tone, quality and authorship as AI tools enter everyday production and broadcast environments
• What it takes to move from pilots to practice, including skills gaps, training needs and the factors slowing adoption

Moderator

Ramzi Madi, Partner, Media and Telecoms, Strategy&

Confirmed Panelists

• Dominic Baillie, Founder, baillie.ai
• Fadi Radi, Advisor to the CEO, SRMG
• Gilles Vidal, Creative Director – Head of Taamai Studio