Dubai Media City marks 25 years of pioneering innovation in the Middle East’s media and content creation sector

Dubai Media City, the Middle East’s leading hub dedicated to the media and content creation sector, is marking its 25th anniversary of pioneering innovation and growth in the creative industries.
One of TECOM Group PJSC’s 10 vibrant business districts, Dubai Media City has played an instrumental role in transforming Dubai into a global media hub and an international destination for talent, investment, and innovation.

Dubai Media City was launched to establish Dubai’s reputation as a multi-dimensional Arab media capital offering a comprehensive, nurturing ecosystem and state-of-the-art infrastructure to spur industry growth. Curated to cement Dubai’s position on the global media landscape, the district has a rich legacy of contributing towards economic transformation, and has played a key role in strengthening the knowledge economy by attracting strategic investments and reinforcing Dubai’s position as a global hub for media innovation.

Dubai Media City was the stepping stone to the creation of TECOM Group’s Media Cluster, which also includes Dubai Production City and Dubai Studio City. A complete ecosystem for more than 40,000 creative professionals, the Media Cluster is the address of more than 60% of Fortune 500 companies in the media sector. Home to a wide range of TV and radio companies as well as social media and digital content creators, the Media Cluster is the broadcasting base for news and entertainment content in some of the world’s most spoken languages, including Arabic, English, German, Hindi, Chinese, and Tagalog.

“The visionary leadership of His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum has solidified Dubai Media City’s position as a globally leading hub for the media sector,” said Majed Al Suwaidi, Senior Vice President of Dubai Media City, Dubai Production City, and Dubai Studio City, part of TECOM Group. “Dubai Media City has played a leading role in attracting and nurturing globally accomplished media leaders for more than 25 years, contributing to the nation’s knowledge- and innovation-based economy.

“As the region’s largest community for the media sector, Dubai Media City will continue to provide an advanced ecosystem for the industry that is supported by robust mechanisms, innovative solutions, and future-focused technologies, reinforcing Dubai’s position as a global centre for the creative economy.”

Empowering content creation

 Offering sector-specific infrastructure and a nurturing environment to enable sustainable business growth, Dubai Media City has attracted some of the world’s largest media and advertising companies, such as CNN, Discovery Networks, WPP, and Publicis Groupe. The district is also home to globally renowned regional champions such as ITP Media Group, which has a portfolio of more than 75 brands reaching over 100 million people, as well as OSN Group, whose subsidiary OSN Streaming attracted a strategic investment from Warner Bros. Discovery last year.

The district has been instrumental in nurturing the progress of global industry leaders, homegrown content creators, and leading Arab media voices alike. Alongside Dubai Production City and Dubai Studio City, Dubai Media City is credited with contributing directly to Dubai’s recognition as the Capital of Arab Media 2020 and 2021 by the Arab Information Ministers Council.

In 2024, Dubai retained its position as the top global destination for attracting Greenfield Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) in cultural and creative industries for the third consecutive year, as reported by the Financial Times’ ‘fDi Markets’ and its ‘Creative Industries Cluster’ classification. The city attracted 971 cultural and creative sector projects during the year, with total FDI capital inflows reaching AED 18.86 billion and resulting in the creation of 23,517 new jobs.

Empowering talent

Dubai Media City’s contributions towards the creative economy are reinforced by its support for talent development initiatives such as the Emirati Media Talent Pledge signed by TECOM Group at the Arab Media Forum in 2024. The district also strengthens efforts to drive the creative economy’s growth as the home of the UAE Ministry of Economy & Tourism’s InstaBlock Lab, established through a memorandum of understanding with Spanish professional football league LaLiga. Inaugurated in 2025, the lab is designed to accelerate the blocking of websites that violate intellectual property (IP) rights.

Moreover, Dubai Media City connects professionals through community events such as Creative Brunch, as well as its role as Strategic Partner of Dubai Lynx, MENA’s leading platform for creative excellence and effectiveness. Dubai Media City is also contributing towards the industry’s knowledge-building pathways by championing strategic initiatives such as Dubai Press Club’s Arab Media Outlook – Future Vision flagship report, for which the district is Knowledge Partner.

Empowering innovation

 As part of TECOM Group’s Media Cluster, Dubai Media City also contributes towards innovators by supporting start-ups through in5 Media – one of four sector-specific verticals under Dubai’s leading incubator, in5. Since its inception in 2013, in5 has nurtured more than 1,100 start-ups that have raised over AED 9 billion in funding.

in5 Media offers access to creative spaces, training and mentorship, and networking opportunities, as well as sector-specific facilities such as recording and podcasting spaces and green rooms through its dedicated centre at Dubai Production City. The incubator offers pathways for collaboration within TECOM Group’s ecosystem, including Dubai Studio City, which features infrastructure such as backlots, sets, production offices, and the region’s largest sound stages.

Additionally, D/Quarters, TECOM Group’s co-working platform offering world-class facilities adaptive to future-focused businesses, is also based at the heart of Dubai Media City and Dubai Internet City. D/Quarters provides a high-tech ecosystem that nurtures the growth of ambitious freelancers and large corporations alike.

Dubai Media City is part of TECOM Group’s portfolio of 10 sector-specific business districts, which includes Dubai Internet City, Dubai Production City, Dubai Studio City, Dubai International Academic City, Dubai Knowledge Park, Dubai Science Park, Dubai Industrial City, and Dubai Design District (d3).