Tuesday,August06,2019

KaswaraAl-Khatib,CEOandChairmanofRiyadh-basedonlinecontentproducer,UTURNEntertainment.

ENTERTAINMENT SAUDIENTERTAINMENT

KSA’sUTURNEntertainmentToCreateOriginalContentForSnapchat November5,2018 Admin CommentsOff

KaswaraAl-

Khatib,CEO

and

Chairmanof

Riyadh-

basedonline

content

producer,

UTURN

Entertainment,hasannouncedthelaunchofneworiginalshowsformultimediamessagingappSnapchat.

SpeakingtoBroadcastProMEattheUTURNofficeswithintheIn5MediapremisesinDubaiProductionCity,Al-Khatib

says:“Wearecreatingtailor-madecontentforSnapchat.WeareamongthefirstintheMiddleEasttodothat.Asoneof

Snapchat’sDiscoverpartners,wehavebeencreating10-secondsnackablecontentforSnapchat,whichisnotthe

easiesttocreategiventhetimeconstraints.Thenewformatwillallowusuptosevenminutestotellourstory.”

UTURNEntertainment,establishedbySaudinationalsKaswaraandSorakaAlKhatib,isanonlineentertainment

networkforArabspeakers.Establishedin2010,ithasgrownfromaproducerofonlinevideostoamulti-platform

network,withmorethan35millionsubscribersacrossitsvarioussocialmediaplatforms.

In2016,UTURNjoinedeightotherregionalpublishers–AlArabiya,AlJazeera,EurosportArabia,Layalina,MBC,

Sayidaty,SkyNewsArabiaandZahratAlKhaleej–topublishonSnapchat’sDiscoverchannel.

Al-KhatibrevealsthatUTURNcontentonDiscoverhasgarneredmorethanninemillionviewsintheregion.“Weusedto

publishthreedaysaweekonDiscover.Wearenowgoingtoproducefivedaysaweek.”

Theonlinecontentproductioncompany’sfocusonSnapchatisbasedonitsenormouspopularityinSaudiArabia,with

morethanninemilliondailyactiveusers.TofurtherconsolidatetheKingdom’saffinitywiththesocialmediaplatform,

parentcompanySnapInc.receivedinvestmentof$250mfromSaudibillionairePrinceAlwaleedBinTalalearlierthis

year.

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ThesignificanceoftheregionforSnapchatisalsoindicatedbyadvertisingrevenues.InthefirstthreemonthsofSnap

Adsbeingavailableforpurchaseviaself-servetools,Snapreportedlytripledtheamountofadvertiserspendinginthe

auction–andofalltheinternationaloffices,theMENAregionwasthetopcontributortogrowthinQ42017.

WemeetKaswaraAl-KhatibjustashisteamofyoungArabnationalsarebrainstormingtoproduceSnapchatclips

reflectingcontemporaryArabyouth.ElaboratingontheSnapchatOriginalinitiative,hesays:“Weareexcitedaboutthis.

SnapchatisprobablythemostactivesocialmediainKSA.MostoftheyouthisonSnapchat,andasanentertainment

companyweneedtomovewheretheyouthisratherthanwaitforthemtocometous.Wehavenowcreatedcontent

forDiscoveryforclosetoayear.WithSnapchatOriginal,newpossibilitieshaveopened.Wearemovingveryquickly,and

intwoweeks’timewewillpresentideas.”

Onthenatureofcontent,giventheconservativeaudiencesinSaudiArabia,Al-Khatibisquotedassayingthathis

philosophyistocreatecontentthatishalalwithharmonyandhonesty.Inanotherinterviewhehassaidthatthe

companywillnottouch“uponreligion,politicsorsexuality.Ourcontentismoresocialandwedonotstirpublicopinion

oropposenormsorgovernments”.

Fromacommercialperspective,UTURN’sgrowthhasbeen

meteoricsinceitsearlydaysin2010.Withamissiontocreate

qualityonlinecontentbySaudiArabiantalent,thecompanyhas

morethan33msubscribersonsocialmedia,andover10bn

minutesofvideohavebeenviewedsincethegroup’screation.In

early2011,thecompanybecameanonlinepartnerwithYouTube

andlaterbecameapremiumpartner.In2012,itstarted

broadcastingcontentthroughYahoo,followedbyFacebook.

Throughthesedeals,UTURNhasgrownfromamultichannelnetwork(MCN)toamultiplatformnetwork(MPN).

In2013,UTURNlauncheditsowniOSandAndroidapps,throughwhichuserscanwatchUTURNcontent.Partnerships

havebeenexploredwithSamsungandthetelcoZainforVODinitiatives.InNovember2015,UTURNEntertainment

landeda $10minvestment fromBeirutVCLeapVentures.Thecompanyalsoreportedmorethan$10minrevenuefrom

advertiserssuchasNissan,UnileverandNestlé.

Fromarevenuepointofview,withmultipleplatforms,Al-Khatibhasbroughtineconomiesofscalewhichallowhimto

produceanddeployverticalvideocontentformultipleplatforms.Ontheresilienceofrevenuesforcontentonsocial

mediaplatforms,hebelievesonlineadvertisingistypicallyatthelowerendofadvertisingcomparedtolineartelevision.

Withamoveintonewsocialmediaavenues,heforecastsrevenuegrowthof30-40%.

ReiteratingtheUTURNphilosophytowardsqualityonlinecontent,Al-Khatibsays:“Wewantedtocreateprofessional

contentwithanidentity.Wewantedtheconsumertowaitforthecontentandnotjustaccessitwhenboredonline.”

CommentingonUTURN’spresenceatIn5Media,AlKhatibclarifies:“InDubaiweareoperatingintheIn5incubator.Itis

aninitiativebytheDubaigovernment,andtheobjectiveistomakethisahubforonlinecontentcreators.Thisisaco-

workingspaceandwehelpstart-upswithequipmentandotherproductionfacilities.WEhave5-10officesoccupiedby

start-upsaswespeak.WearetryingtopushforasimilarincubatorspaceinSaudiArabia.”

Postedby:TimesofSaudia.comCourtesyGoogleNews

Taggedentertainmentnews,Saudi,SaudiArabia,saudientertainment,snapchat,timesofsaudia,uturnentertainment

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