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Saudi Research and Media Group
It publishes newspapers and magazines and sells advertising, printing, and public relations services across the Middle East, Europe, and North Africa.
Saudi Research and Media Group is the company behind some of the Arab world's best-known publications, and it makes most of its money selling advertising and subscriptions around them. Its crown jewel is Asharq Al-Awsat, a pan-Arab daily read far beyond Saudi Arabia, alongside titles like Arab News, Sayidaty, and Hia. It also owns a big stake in the Saudi broadcaster MBC through a joint venture, which puts its content in front of millions of Arabic-speaking viewers.
The business works like most media empires: a publication builds an audience, and that audience is the product sold to advertisers. SRMG also runs printing presses, handles distribution, and operates a public relations arm, so it captures money at several points in the publishing chain. It serves readers and advertisers across the Middle East, Europe, and North Africa, which gives it reach that most regional publishers lack. The challenge is the same one every newspaper faces: print advertising keeps shrinking as readers move online and advertisers follow them to Google and Meta. SRMG has been shifting toward digital, events, and its MBC stake to offset that decline. Who ultimately controls it matters too. The company was long tied to the Hafez family, but a 2018 restructuring left Saudi businessman Prince Bandar bin Khalid Al Saud as a major shareholder, making it one of the kingdom's flagship media assets.
It is listed on the Saudi stock exchange and pays a dividend to shareholders, though its profitability swings with the advertising market. Its biggest vulnerability is that media is cyclical and fiercely competitive, and its biggest edge is that few regional players have its scale, its brands, or its political connections. Meta Platforms and Alphabet are the rivals quietly draining its ad dollars.
Saved answer · last researched 12 Nov 2026