🌐 Great Content Is Nothing Without Great Delivery

A conversation with EdgeNext’s Samy Sahli about the CDN technology powering streaming across MENA

Hey streamers! IBC 2026 is coming soon, so it’s time to restart my conversations with the media and technology professionals building the streaming ecosystem in MENA 👇

We often talk about content as the key to streaming success.

And of course, content matters. But a platform can invest millions in movies, series or sports rights and still lose viewers because of one small spinning wheel.

If the experience is slow, the video keeps buffering or a football goal arrives after the notification, viewers will leave.

That’s where CDNs come in.

A content delivery network brings content closer to viewers by serving it from nearby infrastructure. Think of it like a network of ATMs: instead of everyone visiting the bank’s main branch, each person uses the closest machine.

For this new episode of Inside the Lab, I spoke with Samy Sahli, Sales Director for Key Accounts at EdgeNext, to better understand the invisible technology behind our everyday streaming experience.

We discussed why MENA is both a promising and challenging market for content delivery. The region has more than 100 active streaming platforms, strong demand for local content and major audience peaks around sports and Ramadan.

For Samy, localization is as important for streaming infrastructure as it is for content.

Here’s what we covered:

✅ What a CDN is and why it plays such an important role in streaming

✅ Why local infrastructure can reduce buffering, latency and playback start times

✅ How streaming platforms can prepare for major traffic peaks during Ramadan and live sports

✅ Why larger platforms should consider a multi-CDN strategy

✅ How flexible and pay-as-you-go models can make multi-CDN easier to adopt

✅ How EdgeNext supports one of the region’s largest Arabic streaming platforms

Samy also shared some interesting results from that partnership. According to EdgeNext, its work helped the platform reduce buffering by more than 20% and improve playback start time by over 18%.

My main takeaway? Great content can attract viewers, but a reliable streaming experience is what keeps them watching.

Watch our full discussion above, and let me know what you think!

You can connect with Samy Sahli on LinkedIn or contact him directly by email.

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Thanks for reading, enjoy your weekend!

🔝 Want to know which Arabic titles are winning on Netflix? Check my new Streaming in MENA: Netflix Top 10 Dashboard and let me know what you think.