Egypt’s National Media Authority has established an artificial intelligence unit at Maspero to restore and enhance archival television content, with the initiative initially focused on preparing historic programming for digital distribution.
National Media Authority head Ahmed Al-Maslamani said the unit will use AI to improve the picture and sound quality of archive material without changing its original content. The team includes newly graduated mass communication professionals, including members of the 2026 cohort, through a partnership with Cairo University’s Faculty of Mass Communication.
The first production being processed is the popular animated series Bakkar. Its original standard-definition footage, recorded at 854 × 480 resolution, is being upgraded to 3416 × 1920, approaching 4K quality, while the audio is being cleaned and rebalanced.
The restored first season will be released episode by episode through the Maspero Atfal YouTube channel, giving the archive a direct digital distribution route rather than returning the material solely to linear television.
The platform-first strategy is significant for broadcasters and rights holders managing large legacy libraries. Rather than treating archive restoration purely as preservation, Maspero is demonstrating how older programming can be technically upgraded and repackaged for audiences consuming content through digital platforms.
The decision to undertake the work through newly graduated talent and a university partnership also offers an alternative model for broadcasters facing the cost of large-scale archive restoration. At the same time, the publication of both the source and target resolutions provides unusually specific technical information against which future restoration projects can be assessed.
The initiative forms part of a wider effort by the National Media Authority to digitise the Maspero archive. Al-Maslamani has positioned the programme primarily as an effort to preserve Egypt’s audiovisual memory, but the process also creates a substantial catalogue of potentially reusable Arabic-language content.
For streaming platforms, broadcasters and content distributors operating across the region, the availability of restored archive material could provide an important source of locally relevant programming as demand for Arabic-language content continues to grow.
Maspero’s approach therefore connects preservation with distribution: restoring the archive protects historic productions while simultaneously making them more technically suitable for today’s digital viewing environment.
