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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