The Saudi Media Forum, set to take place in Riyadh from February 2 to 4, 2026, has emerged as a leading platform that brings together media professionals and decision-makers each year.
The forum brings together prominent figures and industry leaders to examine key challenges facing the media sector and explore ways to keep pace with a rapidly evolving global landscape. It has become a flagship event in a year of media transformation, reflecting Saudi Vision 2030’s ambition to position the Kingdom as a regional hub for media and culture.
The Saudi Media Forum underscores the media’s role in shaping national awareness, advancing AI-driven innovation, deepening storytelling, and redefining influence in the post-digital era. This focus reflects a strategic shift toward a Saudi media ecosystem that not only adapts to global change but helps lead it in line with national priorities.
The forum serves as a key soft-power platform, showcasing media transformation enabled by progressive policies and regulatory development. This year’s edition is particularly significant as it coincides with the 10th anniversary of Vision 2030, highlighting national progress and strong engagement with the Kingdom’s transformation agenda.
The Saudi Media Forum further reinforces Saudi Arabia’s position as a regional hub for media, culture, and creative leadership, driving the growth of creative industries and the digital economy, empowering national talent, and amplifying the Kingdom’s global narrative. It has evolved beyond dialogue into a leading platform for media exchange, capacity building, innovation, and international collaboration.
Saudi Media Forum : Objectives and agenda
The forum’s agenda addresses a wide range of critical topics shaping the global media landscape. These include global media challenges, the role of media in energy transitions and sustainable innovation, crisis communication, and the development of digital media infrastructure.
Image credits: Saudi Media Forum | Cropped by GBN
The Saudi Media Forum also examines the impact of esports on audiences and media, the evolving media and entertainment economy, and investment opportunities in Saudi Arabia. Additional sessions focus on media planning in the digital era, the use of artificial intelligence in journalism and content creation, and the growing prominence of documentary films.
The agenda further explores economic policies linked to Vision 2030, the global trajectory of Saudi content, emerging audience engagement trends, and innovation in storytelling and visual production.
Image credits: Saudi Media Forum | Cropped by GBN
Saudi Media Awards
The Saudi Media Awards, one of the forum’s flagship events, has expanded to four main tracks encompassing 14 categories across the media sector. Within the visual and audio content track, the award introduced a first-of-its-kind category for AI‑generated content, marking a significant milestone in the history of media awards.
As the first global professional award dedicated to this field, it signals a major shift in creative industries and reflects the Kingdom’s ambition to lead in the integration of artificial intelligence into advanced content production, blending human creativity with cutting-edge technology.
Image credits: Saudi Media Forum | Cropped by GBN
The Saudi Media Forum also hosts the Future of Media Exhibition (FOMEX), bringing together government entities and local and international companies to showcase the latest media technologies and products. FOMEX serves as a platform for strategic partnerships, future-focused dialogue, and global exchange through panel discussions and workshops featuring international speakers.
A range of specialized initiatives further enhances the forum’s impact. These include the Saudi Media Innovation Bootcamp (Saudi MIB), the SMF GROW UP program supporting emerging media companies, the Idea Lab for creative development, SMF Connect for international media cooperation, the Forum Spotlight initiative sustaining year-round engagement, and the Media Ambassadors program to prepare the next generation of Saudi media professionals.
