coverstory_cover story 26/02/2015 10:23 Page 1
MENA: Political troubles,
but TV is buoyant
he MENA region’s major Arab
broadcasters are launching new
channels. Newly-launched
satellites are busier than ever and new
satellites are being planned. Perhaps
even more importantly there are
growing skill-sets and enthusiasm for
local programme makers. Established
players such as Arabsat are busy
finding new markets.
A recent study from Deloitte echoed the
positivity. It states that SVoD, while still
nascent in the region, “is gaining traction
and growing at a much faster pace than
[elsewhere]”. Deloitte expects regionspecific Sport programming to continue to
increase by “at least” 15% to 20% annually,
and again faster than in the rest of the
world. “In the Middle East, television has
maintained its position as the dominant
media platform, despite digital disruptions
including the rise of online streaming, social
media, mobile gaming as well as
T
16 EUROMEDIA
A year ago, Euromedia
wrote that amidst the
political problems
television and
broadcasting generally
remained healthy. A year
later and it might be fair
to say that the region’s
political problems and
civil unrest challenges
are worse than ever. But
somehow or other – and
perhaps as a respite from
the turmoil all around –
broadcasting is also in
better shape than ever,
reports Chris Forrester.
smartphone and smart TV penetration.”
Research firm Frost & Sullivan also notes
that the region offers rich potential with a
few countries ranking among the highest
digital television and high-speed internet
penetration in the world. Vidya S. Nath,
research director digital media at Frost &
Sullivan, found that satellite television will
continue to dominate the region’s linear
television services over the next three years.
High Definition (HD) TV channels will
continue to grow swiftly by at least 25% over
the next three years, while content
companies will likely start offering 4K video
content over IPTV soon.
PROGRESS. All of the main satellite
operators are extremely busy growing their
markets. Industry leaders Intelsat, SES and
Eutelsat are each claiming considerable
progress over the past year, while regional
operators such as Arabsat and Nilesat, as
well as newcomers ABS and Es’Hail, are each
claiming record numbers of channels and –