focus
$1.053 billion in 2019. However, the total will
recover to reach $1,.269 billion by 2025. Pay-
TV subscriptions fell by 5% between 2016 and
2019 to 3.58 million, but will progress to 4.71
million by 2025.
PIRACY. Not helping the operator’s
profitability is piracy, and the extremely
negative influence of beoutQ. “The ongoing
ban on beIN in Saudi Arabia (where it is “the EU will focus its action” regarding the
protection and enforcement of intellectual
property rights in third countries, and now
including Saudi Arabia.
Saudi Arabia was added to the list based
on representations made by rights-holders
and broadcasters across European sport –
including UEFA, the Premier League, LaLiga
and (as the principal target of Saudi Arabia’s of criminal judicial procedures and sanctions
conditional on political or subjective
considerations,” said the EU report.
REPORT. The report also reminded everyone
that proceedings against Saudi Arabia
continue at the WTO, while other governments
(particularly the US government and the UK
government) continue to condemn beoutQ, the
European Commission highlights how Saudi
officially banned) is adversely affecting the
whole sector,” suggests Murray. “Even when
the ban is lifted, we believe that an unofficial
ban will remain. As beIN suffers, it is reducing
its expenditure on top events – thus making it
less attractive to potential subscribers.”
The European Commission joined the
world’s leading sports bodies to condemn
beoutQ’s blatant piracy and demanding that
Saudi Arabia upholds the rule of law. The EU
published a report in January which singled
out the Kingdom for “causing considerable
harm to EU businesses” following what was
described as “the unprecedented two-year
theft” of European sport programming by
Saudi-based beoutQ. The report sets out
priority countries – 13 worldwide – on which piracy) beIN Media Group – regarding
rampant copyright piracy; along with
submissions from other industries harmed by
deficient patent and data protection regimes.
Saudi Arabia is one of only two countries
added to the European Commission’s
bi-annual ‘priority list’, alongside another
persistent offender Nigeria.
BOXES. While beoutQ channels have not
been distributed over satellite for some time,
beoutQ boxes are still widely in circulation
in Saudi Arabia and elsewhere, and continue
to provide illegal access to third-party IPTV
pirate apps covering just about every major
sport and entertainment channel in the world,
wiping billions of dollars of value off the global
industry.
The EU report said: “As a reminder of
the unprecedented situation last year where
the eight leading bodies of world football
publicly declared that they were unable to
initiate a copyright infringement case in Saudi
Arabia, the report highlights how the Saudi
government acts as its own judge and jury,
approving or vetoing any legal action against
it.”
“As regards criminal enforcement,
stakeholders report that the [Saudi]
Ministry of Culture and Information has
a discretional right to authorise or deny
access to the Copyright Committee, which
is the sole entity responsible for copyright
infringements in Saudi Arabia, and also to
approve or disapprove the decisions of the
Copyright Committee, which does not seem
to be compatible with the [World Trade
Organization, WTO] Trade-Related Aspects
of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS)
Agreement. These rules make the availability Arabia simply ignores requests, regulations
and the basic rule of law.
“The European Commission’s latest report
adds to the existing calls (including at the
highest levels of the US and UK governments)
calling on Saudi Arabia to uphold the rule
of law,” observes Yousef Al-Obaidly, CEO of
beIN Media. “As the biggest buyer of media
rights in world sport, this is nothing to do
with politics - it’s commercial theft, plain
and simple. We are not rallying against Saudi
Arabia, we are rallying against any nation,
company or individual who steals sports
content. Even today after over two years, the
only way to watch most premium international
sport in Saudi Arabia is via illegal means.
The only message this sends to international
broadcasters and rights-holders around the
world is that you cannot monetise or protect
your IP in Saudi Arabia.”
Piracy of pay-TV signals, whether from
beIN or OSN is truly ruining the business.
The long-standing problems at OSN are well
documented, and for the pay-TV broadcaster
to hire and fire three CEOs in almost as many
years is itself indicative of a deeper malaise at
the Dubai-based business.
MBC. MBC, the powerhouse broadcaster over
the region, also has a new mandate which is
to relocate itself to Riyadh. Shifting from the
hardworking but liberal Dubai, to the much
more challenging Riyadh, will be the ultimate
test. MBC will be part of a new Media City
in Riyadh and will be the new home of news
channels Al Arabiya and Al Hadath.
Quite what impact ultra-conservative
Riyadh will have on MBC’s creativity,
programming grid and freedom to operate
is a major question. New CEO Marc
“This is nothing to
do with politics - it’s
commercial theft, plain
and simple!” - Yousef
Al-Obaidly, beIN Media
10 EUROMEDIA MENA Special