How Media City Qatar Is Supporting the Growth of Media and Content Industries

As the author and story consultant Robert McKee once observed, “Storytelling is the most powerful way to put ideas into the world.”

Across the media industry, the ways those stories are created, produced, and distributed are evolving rapidly. New platforms, technologies, and audiences are reshaping how content is made and where it comes from.

In this changing landscape, new media ecosystems are emerging that bring together broadcasters, producers, digital creators, and technology companies in the Middle East. Media City Qatar is part of this shift, supporting the growth of a media and creative ecosystem that connects international and regional media organizations, storytellers, and emerging startups.

What is Media City Qatar?

What began in 2019 with the establishment of Media City Qatar under Amiri Law No. 13 was established as part of a long-term vision to help shape a sustainable media and creative sector.

In just a few years, that vision is attracting global players such as CNN, Dow Jones, Euronews, dpa, AP, and iHeartMedia, alongside startups that now represent 60% of its licensed companies. Global broadcasters and early-stage founders operate within the same professional environment, where proximity turns conversations into partnerships and ideas into growth.

Today, more than 420 licensed companies operate from Media City Qatar across broadcasting, digital media, production, advertising, communications, gaming, and emerging technologies, reflecting a rising appetite to build from Doha.

The pace of growth tells its own story: company registrations rose by 113 percent in one year; a clear reflection of growing confidence in building from Doha.

Why Companies Choose It

Companies choose Media City Qatar for one reason: it gives them the conditions to grow faster and scale with confidence.

Qatar offers a highly supportive business environment, including fast licensing, 100% foreign ownership, zero income tax, no custom duties, access to grants and facilities, talent development initiatives, and a clear legal framework based on English common law.

Flexible work solutions and business-friendly regulations further reduce barriers while giving companies the confidence to test, scale, and collaborate from Qatar.

Opportunity in Action

Media City Qatar’s role extends beyond support as it creates opportunities for companies to be seen and heard.

For example, CNN, a licensed company within Media City Qatar, launched CNN Creators, a 30-minute weekly show, in October 2025 from its state-of-the-art facility in Doha. The program provides a platform for new voices and digital storytellers while reflecting the growing influence of the creator economy. Media City Qatar is also supporting opportunities for students from Northwestern University in Qatar to gain practical newsroom experience through initiatives such as internships with Euronews and participation in CNN Academy’s global journalism simulation programs.

Euronews’ decision to establish its presence in Doha reflects a growing trend in how global media organizations approach content production. Instead of covering the region from afar, the network moved closer to where stories are happening, allowing for more immediate and locally grounded reporting. Since launching its hub in 2021, it has produced more than 550 episodes from Qatar, generating 11.3 billion TV impacts and 58 million YouTube views, with annual audiences reaching up to 61 million.

Media City Qatar facilitated more than 8,000 raw hours of content across films, series, and digital content. These figures point to something essential: companies establishing themselves here are already producing and publishing. At MIPCOM Cannes 2025, Media City Qatar announced support for two original Arabic-language drama series, When I Saw and Behind the Scenes, filmed in Qatar and Lebanon in collaboration with ImagIQ, a licensed company within Media City Qatar.

Across decades, successful creative hubs have shown that strong infrastructure can withstand the ebbs and flows of economic cycles, regional shifts, and the evolving media landscape.

Media City Qatar is building that kind of environment Where Next is Made.