Arabs are among the largest media consumers in the world, with many spending hours every day watching and listening to their various devices, from televisions to smartphones.
In the region, the Saudis spend the most time watching television, with an average of 5.2 hours a day, followed by the Emiratis with 4.2 hours, according to a report by the consulting firm Strategy&.
Furthermore, it found that Saudis spend an average of 14.2 hours a day interacting with various types of media channels. However, spending a lot of time staring at devices can lead to screen fatigue, which may be one of the reasons for the growth of alternative media formats like podcasts.
“(A podcast) is an easily consumable content (format) and, more importantly, offers a screen-free alternative to social media and doom scrolling,” Ramsey Tesdell, chief executive of the network, told Arab News. Jordan-based podcast host Sowt Media. .
There are an estimated 10 million-plus podcast listeners in the Middle East and North Africa region, listening to an average of five to seven hours of podcasts a week, according to Bella Ibrahim, director of marketing for the regional company. of Kerning Cultures podcasts. The net. The biggest markets are in Saudi Arabia, Egypt and the United Arab Emirates, she added, but other countries in the region are following her lead.
The rise of new creators and the development of improved technologies have helped create a thriving podcast ecosystem, with special events like “Ignite the Sound” in Saudi Arabia and “Sada” and “Podfest” in the United Arab Emirates bringing together the creators.
Statistics reveal the growth in popularity of the medium in the region and internationally. According to Strategy&, 18.4% of Saudis listen to podcasts more than once a week. Globally, Spotify said the share of podcasts on its platform has grown from less than 7 percent in 2018 to 30 percent this year.
Although podcasting is still a relatively new medium, the ideas and traditions from which it grew are not.
“Audio has always been a part of our lives,” Rhea Chedid, a senior podcast manager at Spotify MENA, told Arab News. “The Arab world has a long history of storytelling, and podcasts are a continuation of that.”
Still, podcast audiences remain relatively low compared to the popularity of social media and streaming video. And so, despite the clear benefits that audio content offers, including hands-free and screen-free entertainment, video is, perhaps inevitably, becoming an increasingly ubiquitous part of the podcast scene.
“Video is an important aspect of entertainment, and podcasts will adapt as well,” Tesdell said.
Spotify, for example, first flirted with the idea of adding video to podcasts in 2020 during limited testing, after which it rolled out video-podcast options for select creators through Anchor, a podcast creation and distribution platform it acquired. in 2019. Last month, it expanded its video-podcasting capabilities to most of the global markets where Anchor is available, including Saudi Arabia and Egypt.
Does that mean the days of the audio-only podcast might already be numbered? Experts say this is not the way to look at it.
“This is not about audio or video, or leaving audio behind,” Chedid said. Instead, video is “unlocking greater potential for content to reach new domains, in creative ways, and for more people to access the content they want, the way they want.”
Additionally, people consume a variety of content types throughout the day, which means they don’t necessarily choose video over audio.
“The more people are consuming audio, regardless of the format, that’s a good thing,” Tesdell said.
Videos have been around as a source of online entertainment for much longer than audio podcasts, from the early days of YouTube to the new generation of short, snappy images on sites like TikTok and Instagram. As a result, distribution and monetization tools are well developed across all video platforms, and creators are more familiar with the format, Tesdell added.
In fact, counterintuitive as it may seem, some experts suggest that video could be the factor that propels the podcast industry to greater heights.
Spotify, for example, said it has already seen strong adoption of video from podcasters in markets where it’s available, Chedid said.
Video can also serve as a marketing and promotional tool for podcasters, Ibrahim said, but cautioned: “With all the hype around video, it’s worth noting that not all podcasts should be forced to be video podcasts. It’s a great format for talk shows, but not so much for fiction or narrative shows.”
So do podcasts represent the future of media in the Arab world? Ibrahim certainly thinks so.
“Absolutely; the audio narration medium creates a very intimate listening experience,” he said.
Tesdell and Chedid are also optimistic about the future of podcasting, but see it more as an increasingly important part of the broader media ecosystem than their future.
“Podcasts will play an important and significant role in the development of Arab media,” Tesdell said.
Chedid added: “Podcasts will be part of the future of media in the Arab world, just as they have been globally.”
