Optimisim Returns for MENA's TV & Online Video Businesses
It's On the Up!
After a couple of years of economic turmoil, largely as a result of depressed oil prices, there are signs that the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) is returning to growth.
As it does, there is a renewed sense of optimism about the potential of the region’s TV and online video business, notably in Saudi Arabia, Egypt, the UAE and Qatar. With the region’s OTT business expanding rapidly and high-profile investments in 5G and fibre, this report looks at the opportunities for broadcasters, platforms and investors in MENA’s dynamic market of 380 million people.
The 20 countries that make up the Middle East and North African (MENA) are distinct on many levels. But the one thing that unites this diverse region’s 380 million population is that almost all of them speak Arabic as their first language.
For decades, this audience has been well-served by the likes of MBC Group, which delivers a strong line-up of ad-funded free-to-air channels to 140 million viewers a day by satellite. But just as in other parts of the world, the region has also become a battleground for PayTV and SVOD platforms. Latest estimates put the MENA PayTV market at 4-5 million, while SVOD finished 2018 with just over 4 million subscribers. Market analyst Digital TV Research is predicting that SVOD in Arab-speaking markets will almost triple by 2024, reaching 11.87 million subs by 2024.
At the same time, the regional’s traditional reliance on satellite for content delivery is changing, with fibre-to-the-home rolling out rapidly in territories such as the UAE. In parallel, MENA is also grasping the opportunities presented by 5G, with Ovum stating that: “Operators in the UAE, Saudi Arabia, and Qatar will be among the first in the world to launch 5G commercially.”
