By: Aya Hammad: PR & Digital Marketing Manager, Warner Bros. Discovery MENA

One defining shift or lesson from 2025

While AI and technology offer powerful tools, they cannot replace the human touch in creating content that truly connects. Our success came from balancing innovation with human creativity, making sure every story we tell is shaped by real talent, intuition, and cultural understanding.

This year also showed the value of being flexible and responsive in a fast-changing media landscape, using strategic thinking, creative storytelling, and deep industry expertise to stay ahead. Making content accessible everywhere and supporting creators in reaching new audiences became more important than ever, and flexible approaches to co-production and distribution helped build stronger partnerships.

Localization proved to be a key part of making global content feel personal and relevant. From high-quality dubbing with cultural nuance to collaborations with local influencers, we learned that authenticity and human insight are what make content truly resonate with audiences.

2026: Predictions for the Region

In 2026, our focus will be on growth and human-led creativity. We aim to deliver content that resonates globally while being locally relevant, expand our distribution and revenue opportunities, and strengthen our networks and teams. Our strategy combines bold storytelling with operational excellence, ensuring we remain agile in a rapidly evolving media landscape.

Our IP and content strategy focuses on building a strong slate anchored in key Discovery Global IP, while developing the next global Chief Narrative Offering. We are greenlighting a strategic portfolio of short-form originals, exploring new genres such as anime to diversify our content, and launching new IPs with global impact and scale. On the operational side, we are committed to ensuring full business readiness to support growth, investing in our people through development and empowerment initiatives, and building a culture that encourages creativity, collaboration, and adaptability.