coverstory_cover story 26/02/2014 18:20 Page 1
According to Chris
Forrester, despite
political challenges, the
MENA region
broadcasting industry
has never been in better
shape.
olitically, the problems in the
Middle East continue to
dominate the news. But dip
beneath the terrible
headlines and, without wanting to
trivialise any of the challenges, it is
nevertheless true to state that the
television industry in the MENA
region continues to thrive. Indeed, it
is also true to say that the
broadcasting industry has never been
in better shape.
The Arab Spring series of revolutions has
a long way yet to go before many of the
national problems are resolved, but the
Middle East remains a region full of
optimism, especially from the growing
number of talented creative talents who are
increasingly making their mark.
The prospects are considerable, in terms
of free-to-air transmission and pay-TV.
Recent data from Digital TV Research
suggests that pay-TV revenues in the Middle
East and North Africa will grow by more
than 83% between 2010 and 2020 to a very
healthy $5.6 billion, according to the study.
But there is a strong ‘health warning’ in as
far as growth from the Arabic viewing
community will not be so profitable.
REVENUES. Digital TV Research’s recent
Middle East & North Africa Forecasts report
suggests that
Turkey and Israel
are expected to
contribute 52% of
the region’s payTV revenues in
the 2020 total.
From the $1.49
billion pay-TV
revenues to be
P
Amidst the
problems, TV
still dominates
added between 2013 and 2020, Turkey will
supply $359m, Egypt $362m and Saudi
Arabia $257m.
Satellite TV will continue to dominate
pay-TV revenues, taking two-thirds of the
2020 total (similar to the 2013 proportion).
Satellite TV revenues will reach $3.74 billion
in 2020, up by $1 billion on 2013 and nearly
double the 2010 total.
But digging deeper into the report it is
clear that the forecasts for pay-TV in the key
Arab markets are still miserable when
compared to the rest of the greater Middle
East. For example, Kazakhstan and
Uzbekistan’s pay-TV revenues will more or
less match those of the UAE!
PROGRESS. Which is not
to say that the local pay-TV
providers serving their
Arabic (and ‘western’
expatriate) audiences are
“Pay-TV in the MENA region has
enormous growth potential.”
David Butorac, OSN
16 EUROMEDIA
standing idly by. Far from it. OSN (the
former Orbit-Showtime Network) says it is
very happy with its progress. New channels
are continually being added (including
recent additions from Sundance) and its
HDTV output has been boosted to near-40
channels. In its most recent update, OSN
says its highest growth was in Saudi Arabia
(35%). The company is rolling out to new
markets such as Qatar and Libya. Local
reports suggest – at long last – that OSN is
profitable, and helping both growth and
profitability is a much stronger encryption
system and upgraded set-top box which
helped curb the significant piracy which it
had suffered in the past.
In 2013, Digital TV Research suggested
that piracy remained a major worry for
broadcasters and that fewer than 15% of
households paid for legitimate TV signals.
Again, there have been improvements, with