YouTube launches hub for Arabic television series

YouTube has announced a new hub that will feature over 500 of the most iconic Arabic television series dating back to 1962 from across the Middle East and North Africa. 
YouTube Mosalsalat (series in Arabic) will cover shows of different categories including classic, drama and comedy from the past 50 years with the oldest having been aired in 1962 and the most recent aired in 2016. 
It will have in display more than 7,000 hours worth of complete Arabic television shows, accessible to different audiences at all times. 
Mosalsalat comes almost a year after YouTube launched Aflam, a similar hub for Arabic films. Aflam, which covers 70 years of Arabic cinema, currently features over 1,000 movies and has had more than four million views since its launch. 
"The demand on Aflam was one of the reasons that inspired us to launch Mosalsalat. With over 1,000 subscribers, Aflam proved that the region is hungry for online streaming content," said Zain Masri, Marketing Manager for Google Middle East and North Africa. 
She added, "We looked at different types of content and discovered that series was one we haven't explored." 
YouTube worked with several broadcast partners who own the rights to the shows, such as Al Watan TV Network in Syria and the Egyptian Television and Radio Union in Cairo. More than 250 of the shows featured on the platform are Syrian, such as "Taraef Al Arab," a 1982 historical comic anthology of folklore tales, and the critically acclaimed first season of "Bab Al Hara." 
"With launching Mosalsalat, we want users in the Middle East and North Africa to watch the best of Arabic television anytime they want. These shows have made millions over the past 50 years laugh, cry, and rejoice. We are glad to have been able to digitize a part of the region's heritage," said Masri. 
To access the hub, log into www.youtube.com/mosalsalat. 
Launched in May 2005, YouTube, a Google company, has allowed billions of people to discover, watch and share originally-created videos. It acts as a distribution platform for original content creators and advertisers large and small. 
sherouk@khaleejtimes.com