⏱️ This week’s streaming news in MENA and around the world, in 5 min.
🪄 SOCIAL: Disney and TikTok have announced a global partnership that will bring fan-created TikTok videos featuring Disney, Pixar, Marvel and Star Wars content directly to Disney+, connecting social discovery with streaming. More in The Lab’s Pick.
📱 VERTICAL: ReelShort is expected to generate $1.05 billion in revenue and achieve its first meaningful profit in 2026, driven by lower marketing costs, successful franchises, telco partnerships and more direct payments. More in my Analysis section.
🤖 AI: Autodesk Flow Studio has launched new tools combining AI generation with 3D editing, giving filmmakers greater control over camera angles, characters and environments while reducing the need to repeatedly regenerate scenes. More in my Analysis section.
📱 VERTICAL: Digital Virgo has launched Hekaya Shorts, Morocco’s first platform dedicated to local short dramas, featuring vertical episodes in Darija, mobile-first viewing and 19 series representing more than 800 episodes.
🎬 CINEMA: Spider-Man: Brand New Day has delivered the biggest opening weekend in Middle East box office history, generating $18.4 million in four days, including $7.4 million in the UAE and $5.4 million in Saudi Arabia.
📺 FAST: Disney is exploring a free, ad-supported streaming offering to reach more price-sensitive audiences, expand its advertising inventory and attract new subscribers to Disney+.
⚽ SPORTS: Disney+ and DAZN will become the new home of LALIGA in France, with both platforms streaming all 380 matches per season under separate agreements running through 2028/29.
🎧 AUDIO: Spotify has become the first audio streaming service to reach 300 million premium subscribers, alongside 777 million monthly active users and a 14% increase in quarterly revenue.
Attending IBC2026? Join me and White Peaks Solutions for a live session on the role of data and insights in streaming media. We’ll cover exclusive case studies from MENA, including the streaming landscape, Ramadan viewing, the 2026 World Cup and more!
📅 September 13 | 🕓 4:00 PM | 📍 Booth 2.C41b
Disney+ brings TikTok creators into its streaming experience
What happened?
👉 Disney and TikTok have announced a global partnership that will bring fan-created short-form videos from TikTok directly to Disney+.
Key details:
The initiative will launch as a pilot in the U.S. in the coming months before expanding to other markets.
Participating TikTok creators will be able to use selected scenes and assets from Disney, Pixar, Marvel, Star Wars, FX and other Disney brands.
Creators who opt in will have their videos featured across both TikTok and Disney+ vertical feeds.
The content available on Disney+ will be regularly refreshed to encourage discovery, fan conversations and engagement.
Disney and TikTok will also launch a Creator Ambassador Program offering selected creators greater visibility, exclusive event access and career development opportunities.
Why it matters?
🎯 By integrating fan-created TikTok content directly into its platform, Disney is turning creators into a new layer of content discovery and audience engagement. The partnership also shows how streaming platforms are increasingly adopting the formats, communities and behaviors that have made social video platforms successful.
ReelShort is becoming a billion-dollar microdrama business
👉 ReelShort is expected to generate $1.05 billion in revenue in 2026, up 34% year on year, and achieve its first meaningful profit at scale, according to Media Partners Asia. The platform is projected to record around $40 million in net profit, following a $12 million loss in 2025.
📍 Growth is being supported by lower user acquisition costs, successful franchises, telco partnerships and a shift toward direct payments through ReelShort’s web store. Subscriptions and consumer payments still account for most revenue, but advertising is expected to grow to around 15% by 2028. MPA forecasts ReelShort’s revenue will reach $1.7 billion by then.
💡 Microdramas are moving from a high-growth category to a profitable entertainment business. ReelShort’s performance shows that the next stage will depend less on producing more content and more on building strong franchises, reducing distribution costs and monetizing audiences more efficiently.
Autodesk brings 3D control to AI filmmaking
👉 Autodesk Flow Studio has launched 3D Editor + Canvas, a new set of tools that combines AI-powered image generation with 3D editing, giving filmmakers greater control over camera angles, depth, characters and environments.
📍 Instead of repeatedly generating scenes until they match a director’s vision, filmmakers can manipulate AI-created shots in 360 degrees, reposition characters and build environments around existing performances. The technology aims to bring advanced visual-effects capabilities, traditionally reserved for specialist teams, to studios and independent creators.
💡 Autodesk is addressing one of AI filmmaking’s biggest limitations: the lack of precise creative control. By combining generative AI with established 3D production tools, the company could make synthetic filmmaking more consistent, production-ready and easier to integrate into traditional film and television workflows.
✨ Star Wars: Visions - The Ninth Jedi (Disney+, 8 episodes): In the distant future, long after the Empire and the Rebel Alliance, when the Jedi have faded into legend, Lah Kara, the daughter of Lah Zhima, leaves her home alongside new Jedi allies to free her father from the clutches of Jedi Hunters. Kara’s father is the only known sabersmith in the galaxy, making the lightsaber – and Zhima himself – an invaluable asset.
🐻 In 1985, Star Wars: Ewoks premiered on television. Set on the forest moon of Endor, the animated series follows Wicket W. Warrick and his young Ewok friends as they protect their village from dangerous creatures, rival tribes and dark forces. Blending fantasy, adventure and family-friendly storytelling, Ewoks gave the beloved characters their first starring role beyond the films and became one of the earliest animated series set in the Star Wars universe.
🧪 Fresh from The Lab:
Thanks for reading, enjoy your weekend! I’ll be back next week with my MENA insights.
🔝 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.
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