Saudi media looking homeward

One of the strangest features of the Gulf media scene is the way the entire region caters to the tastes of the all-powerful Saudi consumer -- oil-rich and 28 million strong -- without actually spending much time in Saudi Arabia. Sure, advertising companies have offices there, as do the big Saudi-owned media companies like MBC and Rotana, but in general pan-Arab satellite television is beamed into the kingdom from head offices in Dubai and Amman, using content produced in Cairo.

There have been rumblings for some time now that that might be changing, however. The possibility was first floated by Digital Production Middle East in November. Since then, the Saudi Ministry of Culture and Information has made more -- although quite vague -- statements about imminent plans for a media city in Saudi Arabia. Whether these were in reference to the media zone within King Abdullah Economic City announced in 2008 or the Riyadh media cluster floated a year ago is still a matter of some debate.

Timelines are still very sketchy, but the political will is there on both sides. Sam Barnett, MBC's general manager and chief operating officer, told The National yesterday that MBC has been in talks with the authorities in Saudi about the media zone, adding "with the regulatory environment that has been described, that will clearly be attractive for all our production which we are already doing in Saudi, but would be a lot easier to execute." This environment includes new visa rules that would make it easier to get people in and out of the country.

As Matthieu De Clercq, a consultant with AT Kearney in Dubai, said in a recent interview with The National: "There is a strong will from the king himself to transform Saudi into a knowledge-based economy."