“ Illegal IPTV providers are openly selling their hardware and services through social media .” – Sophie Moloney , OSN
from their existing studios in Dubai Media City . Its main DSC studio is used for MBC ’ s important Morning Show and 9 o ’ clock news broadcast .
Barnett remains the driving force for MBC . He joined in 2002 ( as COO ) when it was a single TV ( and a radio station ) and has since taken the broadcaster to more than 20 channels and an estimated reach of 120m viewers . He was promoted to CEO in 2011 . MBC ’ s staff roster is now some 3,000 people , drawn from 65 nationalities .
At the recent Arabsat client forum , held in Salalah , Barnett was explaining how MBC was continuing to be tough on broadcast piracy : “ Piracy on satellite can be a big issue . Within a couple of months , there were 75 channels with pirated sports and movies . This was content we paid for and was being played for free on satellite channels . One of the reasons we are
so close to Arabsat is because we went to them and said we want to start a coalition to fight piracy , and asked if they would support us . It didn ’ t take even 30 seconds for them to say yes . Arabsat has fought with us against this scourge for the past five years . In the last few months , we have taken 45 pirate channels off the air from 7-degrees West . For the first time as an industry , we ’ re now clean .” PIRACY . Sophie Moloney , OSN chief legal officer , had earlier in 2017 showcased research showing IPTV piracy was growing at an alarming rate and fast becoming ‘ normalised behaviour ’ within the family home . “ Our industry faces a number of threats from illegal satellite distributors as well as from the emerging scourge of internet content piracy . The worrying thing is that illegal IPTV providers are openly selling their hardware and services through social media in the Middle East ,” she added .
Interestingly , Barnett ’ s previous highly critical 2015 comments on piracy were mostly targeted at the region ’ s ‘ virtual ’ satellite operators – Noorsat being among those named then . The Dubai-based MENA Broadcast Anti-Piracy Coalition says it has successfully seen 30 Arabic and ‘ Western ’ regular pirate channels closed and a further 26 cut back on their theft of pirated material . These are all instances where channels steal the legitimate content – often sports or movies – owned by established broadcasters . Noorsat defended its position saying it would comply but that it had to pursue legal routes to close or suspend contracted broadcasters , and frequently those contracts were held via 3 rd party facility companies .
A meeting of the coalition at IBC restated its intention to remain vigilant and to expand its focus to IPTV and OTT pirated transmissions . Guillaume Forbin , OSN ’ s head of platform and content security , unveiled research showing IPTV piracy was unfortunately still growing heavily . The anti-piracy organisation ’ s web-site lists the infringing channels , mostly movie services . UHD . Progressive as he is , Barnett is bluntly pessimistic on the prospects for Ultra-HD in the region saying in October that there were no plans for 4K from MBC . “ There ’ s no return on investment for 4K . I maintain it is a conspiracy by the engineers ,” he told delegates to the Arabsat Salalah event . Barnett added that MBC was “ toying ” with the opportunities presented by pay-TV .
One area that Barnett ’ s MBC is firmly backing is on-line . Indeed , 2018 will see more MBC cash going into its web-based activity , and it makes perfect sense . A November 2017 report from Amman-based Arab Advisors Group showed that of 975 fully operational free-to-air channels broadcasting in October 2017 on regional satellites operated by Arabsat , Nilesat , Noorsat / Eutelsat , YahSat , Gulfsat and Es ’ hail , Arab Advisors found 523 channels ( 53.6 %) had an accompanying website . Many of them had enhanced portals that included a range of interactive services such as live streaming , search engines , online shopping , forums and advertising .
“ The results show that a majority of the 499 channels that have online presence lean more towards an enhanced online presence . Furthermore , 38.1 per cent of channels with an online presence generate online revenues through methods that include online advertisement and online shopping , among others ,” said senior research analyst Hiba Al Atiyat . “ Almost 60.6 per cent of the satellite channels have online presence for promotional purposes only and do not aim at generating online revenues . Thirty-seven point three per cent of the channels of the channels that have online revenue generating
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22 EUROMEDIA