🔥 MrBeast Levels Up in MENA
In Riyadh for Beast Land and Beast Games, then Dubai for the 1B Follower Summit | Streaming in Short – W48
This week, I cover Beast Games filming in Saudi Arabia, LG launching FAST channels in the UAE, and Hollywood starting to make more vertical series.
🦁 Beast Games is Back for Season 2, partly filmed in Saudi Arabia
👉 Prime Video will release the new season on January 7, 2026. This time, 200 contestants will compete in a “Strong vs Smart” challenge for a $5M prize.
📍 Part of the show was filmed in Saudi Arabia, and Prime Video has already confirmed Season 3 after Season 1 reached 50M viewers in 25 days.
💡 MrBeast is doing more in MENA. His new Beast Land theme park just opened in Riyadh, and he’ll be in Dubai for the 1B Follower Summit in January 2026.
📺 LG Launches FAST in the UAE
👉 LG has launched LG Channels in the UAE, letting LG Smart TV users watch movies and shows for free, no subscription needed.
📍 The service includes channels like Bloomberg, Euronews, Zee Alwan, Zee Aflam, Smashi TV, Lovin TV and WATCH IT.
💡 LG Channels already offers 4,000+ FAST channels in 33 countries and will roll out to more MENA markets soon.
🎬 Hollywood Moves Into Micro Dramas
What happened?
👉 Big studios like Disney and Fox are now investing in vertical series.
Key details:
Fox invested in Holywater to help create hundreds of new vertical shows.
Disney added DramaBox to its startup program to test mobile-first stories.
Apps like ReelShort make 400+ shows a year, filmed quickly in Los Angeles.
These shows are cheap and fast to make, a full series can be filmed in one week.
Why it matters?
🎯 Vertical series are giving actors, writers and film crews more work during a slow year for Hollywood.
📈 STRATEGY: Big Black Friday Deals Show Mixed Strategies
Many streamers, Disney+, Max, Paramount+, Fox One and Apple TV+, offered big Black Friday discounts to bring in more subscribers, even though
They keep saying they want to focus on profits, but big discounts show that most platforms still need more users first, especially for their ad tiers.
🏢 DATA: Parrot Analytics Opens Doha Office
Parrot Analytics has partnered with the new Qatar Film Committee and opened its first Middle East office in Doha.
The Committee will use Parrot data to guide how Qatar chooses, develops and markets film and TV projects.
⚽ SPORTS: FIFA Arab Cup 2025 Kicks Off in Qatar
The tournament starts on December 1 in Doha, with 16 teams competing across six World Cup stadiums and a final on December 18 at Lusail Stadium.
All 32 matches will stream live and free on beIN Sports across 24 MENA markets, with full studio coverage and simultaneous games on beIN Sports XTRA 1.
🚕 VIU: “Taxi Driver 3” Hits #1 Across Multiple Regions
Viu’s new season of Taxi Driver 3 launched on November 21 and instantly reached #1 on the platform in Thailand, Singapore, the Philippines, Indonesia, Hong Kong and the MENA region.
The show also broke records in Korea, with its first episode scoring a 9.5% rating on SBS, the highest premiere for any Korean mini-series this year.
📰 IRAQ: Al-Manasa Adds Al Jazeera to Boost News Streaming
Al-Manasa is adding all Al Jazeera channels, Arabic, English, Documentary and Mubasher, to its service for free.
Al-Manasa now offers trusted news and more than 400 channels in one place.
🇦🇪 UAE: Sony Expands Its Local TV Formats Across MENA
At the Dubai screenings, Sony showed how it turned global formats into regional favourites like Shark Tank Egypt on CBC and Who Wants to Be a Millionaire on Dubai TV.
Sony Pictures Television also introduced new ideas for younger audiences, including its latest game show “100 Choices.”
🇦🇪 UAE: Snap to Reveal New AR Glasses at BRIDGE Summit
Snap Inc. will show its next-generation AR Spectacles for the first time in the UAE at the BRIDGE Summit in Abu Dhabi on December 8–10.
Snap will also join main-stage talks on the future of connection and safe digital spaces, and run a Snap School workshop to help creators grow on the platform.
🚲 Stranger Things Season 5, from Ross Duffer and Matt Duffer (Netflix, 8 episodes): The fall of 1987. Hawkins is scarred by rifts. Vecna has vanished and the government has placed the town under military quarantine, forcing Eleven back into hiding. To end this nightmare, they’ll need everyone together, one last time.
👑 9 years ago, The Crown premiered on Netflix. Created by Peter Morgan, the series introduced viewers to the life of Queen Elizabeth II as she learned to lead the country and balance family and duty. With its strong acting, beautiful sets and dramatic stories based on real events, The Crown became a global hit. It set a new standard for royal dramas and made its cast and characters unforgettable for millions of viewers.
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Thanks for reading, enjoy your weekend! I’ll be back Monday with my MENA insights.
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