YouTube Launches New Hub for Female Content Creators in the Arab World

YouTube continues its mission to shine the spotlight on Arab content creators, announcing on Monday that they will be launching Batala, a hub featuring over 100 female creators from across the MENA region.

Unveiling Batala at a press conference in Riyadh on Monday, YouTube explained that their latest channel already has more than 1,000 videos covering a wide range of genres from comedy to education. Every month, the hub plans to feature an entirely new list of content creators. “With the continuing growth of female content creators in MENA, we want to keep the momentum going. With YouTube Batala, discovering new creators and their work is now easier than ever. The hub highlights the work of some of our best creators in the region and showcases high-quality Arabic content to YouTube’s one billion users,” Head of YouTube Partnerships in the Middle East and North Africa Diana Baddar said.

Already appearing on the hub are notable female creators such as Egypt’s own film critic Enji Aboul Seoud, Palestinian travel vlogger Haifa Bseiso, and identified as this month's top creators are Noor Stars and Hayla Ghazal, who have each garnered over two million subscribers.

As it stands, the total number of hours spent watching female-related videos has grown by 50 percent in 2015. Looking to capitalise on the growth of MENA viewers, YouTube has recently launched multiple channels devoted to Arab content, including a hub featuring some of Egypt’s greatest mosalsalat.