You know something big is brewing when Web Summit Qatar announced their partnership with iHeartMedia as their Official Podcast partner. I knew this foreshadowed a bigger announcement. After all, I did give that hint in one of the podcast episodes (embedded below from 37:45). Plus, you don’t just have a partnership for a 3.5 day event that’s far away from home.
My guess was right on the mark. iHeartMedia and the Government Communications Office of the State of Qatar announced a multi-year partnership. It’ll create a regional podcasting industry in the MENA region, positioning Qatar as the hub for this medium.
iHeartMedia Digital Audio Group CEO Conal Byrne casually announced it onstage, followed by the official announcement with the MOU signing at their press conference.
Nurturing podcasting across the MENA region
The partnership looks to create world-class podcasting infrastructure in Qatar, sparking a wave of creative storytelling across the MENA region. As a result, it positions Qatar as a global and regional podcasting hub.
iHeartMedia will develop a state-of-the-art podcast studio in the country to help nurture the craft and support the vision of fuelling the creator economy. There will be specialized masterclasses to nurture local talent along with hosting global industry events. This will be accompanied by a lineup of original shows and the introduction of some of the world’s most popular podcasts to Arabic-listening audiences. I’m sure they’ll have the same partnership designation for the next Web Summit Qatar.
iHeartMedia is quite known in the USA. This is their first international foray and actually serves both ways. giving businesses in the US a chance to tap into the MENA region and vice-versa. IMHO, I think this is GCO Qatar’s indirect response to Dubai’s Creators HQ but towards a specific medium.
Image Credit: Business Wire
