New Arabic TV Series Hub Launches On YouTube

A dedicated YouTube hub that aggregates Arabic content from 20 entertainment channels across the MENA region has been launched by Google and Unilever.

The hub will feature over 500 shows and 25,000 episodes with content from various genres including comedy, action, drama and religion.

The content will be sourced from channels such as AlNahar, Cairocentric, CBC, Dream, Khalejia TV, Melody, MTVlebanon, Rotana Cinema TV, Alaan, and Roya TV, among others.

“This is the first project of its kind in MENA,” stated Alfonso De Gaetano, Google’s Industry head for the Gulf Region. “The hub also highlights a marked increase in premium Arabic content on the web.”

The project follows a similar Ramadan series hub launched on YouTube last year.

YouTube viewership in the MENA region has risen dramatically in the past few years, and according to stats released in 2012, the site receives more than 260 million views per day from the region.

There are local versions of YouTube in eight countries across the Middle East, and about two hours of content is uploaded on the site from the region every minute.

Saudi Arabia leads the region with the most video playbacks followed by Egypt, Morocco and the UAE.