Dubai International Content Market Successfully Concludes Over 700 Visitors, 50 Exhibitors And More Than 20 Speakers Attended The 2-Day Event

The Dubai International Content Market – DICM wrapped up on a strong note with over 700 visitors in attendance over the two days. More than 250 buyers from 35+ countries attended the market and engaged in 845 meetings with the exhibitors. This translated into an intense networking session, with the exhibition space busy until the very last moment of the market.

Over the past 2-days, participants were happy with the revitalized face of DICM, including the new venue, Jumeirah Beach Hotel and the new participating formula – ‘plug & work’ available for sellers and distributors. In addition, the pre-arranged meeting support, helped participants engage in business discussions throughout the days.

The conference featured the attendance of more than 20 local and international speakers who offered their insights on some of the most pressing challenges facing the content market locally and internationally.

DICM positioned itself as the main hub for doing business in the Middle East and North Africa with Dubai being the “go-to” destination of the media industry in this region.

As the MENA region is home to various types of content from many countries in Europe, United States, Russia, South Korea, Canada, the UK and Japan, DICM hosted delegations from the UK, Canada and France for the first time, bringing together some of the biggest brands in the media, entertainment and content market representing those countries all under one roof.

Furthermore, as a testament to DICM’s brand appeal and popularity among exhibitors, a number of leading names in the content industry such as: OSN, Rotana, MBC, Netflix, Twitter and Etihad Airways occupied the exhibition floor space, showcasing their latest projects and ventures, signing partnerships and business deals as well as exchanging ideas on the future of the digital and media, entertainment and content landscape.

Commenting on this occasion, Ahmed Abdelhamid, Head of Programming and Acquisitions of Majid Kids TV, said: “It was pleasant to see the new aspect of the Dubai International Content Market. Everything was exquisite and the market was quite busy. We had meetings with familiar faces, like DHX Media, France TV Distribution as well as other new names whom attended. DICM is an event needed in the region and it is marvelous to have it in Dubai.”

Vlad Borovina, Project Manager of DICM, explains: “We have made a lot of changes in the past year and we are happy to see the positive reactions from our participants. Despite launching the event quite late in the year, the turnover was impressive from both exhibitors and non-exhibitors. This was possible thanks to strategic partnerships established with the likes of Dubai Media City, DFTC, BroadcastPro or mena.tv, which created a solid and healthy base for this event to grow in the coming years.”

He added: “Remaining the only one in the region focused 100% on buyers and sellers, there is a huge responsibility to deliver a successful platform for media professionals to meet and network. We already started planning the 2019 edition and we will share all details with the industry shortly.”

The latest data from mena.tv, the region’s first online content marketplace, suggest that the content market in the region is showing no signs of slowing down. According to the report, the UAE followed by Egypt and Iraq dominate the MENA TV channel market and while the UAE accounts for 73 TV channels, Egypt houses 61 TV channels followed by Iraq which hosts 39 TV channels. In addition, research figures also show that out of a total of 959 Free to Air TV channels in MENA, 763 originate from the region while the region also hosts 274 pay TV channels, 131 of which are originated in MENA region.

The Dubai International Content Market is organized annually by INDEX Conferences and Exhibitions – a member of INDEX Holding and this edition is supported by Dubai Film and TV Commission and Dubai Media City.