Media professionals participate in a panel discussion at the Arab Media Summit, with speakers seated on stage during a session on the future of Arab media and broadcasting. Photo: Arab Media Summit

NNA News - The 26th Arab Radio and Television Festival in Tunisia is placing artificial intelligence, digital production and changing audience behaviour at the centre of discussions about the future of Arab broadcasting, as broadcasters and technology companies meet for a four-day programme in Tunis and Hammamet.

Organised by the Arab States Broadcasting Union, the festival runs from Sept. 21 to 24 under the theme “Where Image Pulses and Future Echoes”. The programme combines radio and television competitions with a technology and equipment exhibition, a programme market and professional seminars examining changes in the audiovisual sector. The technology component has expanded into one of the festival's main industry features. ASBU said more than 85 exhibitors are taking part across 110 booths covering about 2,500 square metres, showcasing audiovisual production and broadcasting technologies.

Artificial intelligence is also being incorporated directly into the competition structure. ASBU said 161 radio productions and 149 television productions were submitted for the main and parallel competitions, while 10 entries are competing in a New Media category focused on digital content supported by AI technologies.

The AI focus reflects developments within ASBU itself. At the union's 115th Executive Council meeting in Hammamet on Sept. 20, ASBU President Mohammed bin Fahd Al-Harthi said the emergence of AI and new media tools had created “a new reality that requires readiness to accommodate this change”. He also pointed to the importance of using data and developing digital infrastructure, including the integration of AI into ASBU's cloud platform.

ASBU Director General Abdelrahim Suleiman has previously argued that the technological transition requires both innovation and safeguards. Speaking at the Asia-Pacific Broadcasting Union General Assembly in 2025, he said: “The future of broadcasting in the age of AI hinges on how this technology is used.” Suleiman also said: “Innovation must always go hand-in-hand with responsibility, ethics, and public trust,” while calling for AI to be used in areas including news verification and combating disinformation.

The union has already introduced AI into some of its own operations. ASBU said its cloud-based content exchange platform uses AI for indexing, metadata enrichment, transcription, translation and text summarisation. It also reported that AI had been used during the Arab Radio and Television Festival for award announcements, live translation, data visualisation and text-to-speech functions. The professional programme is also looking beyond traditional broadcasting. Sessions include discussions on podcasts and their influence, changing relationships between audiences and content creators, and the role of media in developing tourism destinations.

The festival marks the 45th anniversary of the event. ASBU said it has evolved into a regional meeting point connecting broadcasters, creative professionals and technology specialists. Its current programme also includes cooperation with the Tunisian Ministry of Cultural Affairs, Tunisian Television, Tunisian Radio and Arabsat. For the Arab broadcasting sector, the festival therefore provides both a showcase for current production and a forum for addressing the technological changes reshaping how content is produced, distributed and consumed.