Abu Dhabi Media, the UAE’s leading public service broadcaster and media company today announced the appointment of  STARZPLAY, MENA region’s fastest growing subscription video on demand (SVOD) service, to exclusively handle the advertising sales and commercial services for its media brands’ portfolio.

As part of the long-term deal, STARZPLAY, supported by its shareholder E-Vision, will manage Abu Dhabi Media’s commercial and advertising deals for the entire portfolio across the general entertainment fields, including TV channels, radio, digital and publishing, across the MENA region and beyond. The partnership supports complete flexibility and transparency to Abu Dhabi Media in advertising sales.

Abdulraheem Alnuaimi, General Manager of Abu Dhabi Media, expressed his excitement on this new deal and said: “Signing this partnership with STARZPLAY Arabia will contribute significantly in enhancing Abu Dhabi Media’s commercial proposition. It will support our mission to further extend our reach to new commercial partners in line with our strategic priorities, while also being able to create new opportunities with our existing advertisers.”

“This agreement also signifies an important step as we look forward to enhancing our reach across the MENA region and beyond. It will impact our leadership position in the presentation and production of innovative content, direct interaction, and digital communication with the audience. We are confident that our continued commitment to providing compelling and engaging content across our platforms will present brands and advertisers with ideal opportunities to reach audiences across the region,” he added.

Commenting on the appointment Danny Bates, Chief Commercial Officer, and Co-founder of STARZPLAY, said: “We have established a long-standing relationship with Abu Dhabi Media and this latest deal takes our partnership further. It is a testament to the trust and confidence that Abu Dhabi Media has in us, and we are confident of our success in this new endeavour. The deal further strengthens our market leadership, and we look forward to offering cutting edge solutions to our partners in conjunction with our shareholder eVision. The market is continuously evolving and as leaders in the industry we have always strived to innovate and evolve with the changing trends. The addition of advertising sales is a long-term strategic decision, and we look forward to exploring multiple opportunities in this space.”

Further to the deal, STARZPLAY has established an advertising sales business team within the company, headed by Hamad Malik, to unlock the potential and growth opportunities of the project.

STARZPLAY plans to expand its sales network to GCC in order to unlock the regional advertising potential for Abu Dhabi Media. This agreement comes as an extension to Abu Dhabi Media’s strategy objectives which was announced in 2020, and aims at providing audiences with compelling, digital first content, expanding its commercial partnerships across the MENA region and investing in local talent.