focus
POLICY. Giacomini also thinks that policy
changes are happening. “The market has
changed and perhaps Nilesat was slow to make
their own changes. Now I see them as being
more flexible. In fairness to them they – like
all of us – may be suffering some bad debts.
Bad debt is a problem for everyone. Collection
of money due is very difficult and even when
you have absolutely firm and clear contracts
in place it is still sometimes difficult to collect
what is owed. Political situations, and frequent
banking crisis do not help. Look at the recent
problems with Iran, and international political
restrictions as an example.”
Fortunately, Globecast is also actively
involved in OTT. “We already supply OTT
services into the region including North
Africa and are building out these services
to other areas within the MENA region. We
work with technology partners to achieve
this and it is of growing importance to us,
our clients and the end-users. OTT is already
providing some interesting revenues and
we expect this sector to grow. But the move
on our part, and that of the broadcasters
and operators recognises that viewing
habits are changing and changing rapidly.
The Middle East has some markets that
match the Western world, but others are
still catching up. But the demand for OTT
spreads right across the region. The likes of
Netflix and Amazon are already dominating
some markets, and this is difficult for local
broadcasters to match. Even with investment
by traditional broadcasters in localisation
and regionalisation it is tough for them to
match the investment happening from the
likes of Netflix.”
Like others active in the OTT segment of
the market, he is watching events closely.
“Netflix is busy in the region and investing in
original programming. It is regionalising its
output here and there’s lots of programming
which Netflix is involved in. We can only see it
growing and building,” he adds.
ADVICE. But Giacomini also has advice for
current and would-be broadcasters and OTT
suppliers regarding piracy. “I think piracy
is present in every market, and one way to
fight these pirates is to provide alternative
programming which is not too expensive and
there are examples and platforms now in the
region where the costs are lower. The other
cure would be tougher regulations and for
those regulations to be enforced. Governments
must act and follow up on their own rules to
enforce actions against the pirates.” MBC’s group chairman Sheikh Walid Al
Ibrahim said the group aims to provide an
advanced digital platform that can compete
with the best in the world. “We want to take
control of our narratives, showcasing our
stories to the rest of the world through the
very best in original films, series and media
content,” he said.
d’Halluin showcased data from the past
Giacomini also wants to deepen Globecast’s
relationship with the OTT players. “First of all,
we have to further develop our relationships
with the likes of Netflix and the expansion this
represents. The other aspects include closer
relationships with people such as Facebook
and others. We have considerable ground-
based fibre connectivity, and this gives us
a great deal of flexibility and when this is
combined with satellite can be very useful to
these clients.”
But if there’s one over-riding message
from just about every commercially-focused
player in the market it is that eyeballs need
programming! And if it is Netflix or Amazon,
or Disney or Apple, with extremely deep
pockets that you are up against then you had
better up your game as far as winning viewers
is concerned.
INVESTMENT. Marc Antoine d’Halluin,
MBC’s new CEO, told delegates at the launch
of the all-new Shahid OTT service that
MBC would boost its investment in original
drama fourfold. “Over the next two years,
we aim to substantially increase the size of
our investment into drama productions,
thus increasing them fourfold, of which
the majority will be original and exclusive
content.” decade, stating: “During the past ten years,
MBC has acquired and produced approximately
46,000 hours of Arabic-language entertainment
content, valued at an estimated $1.3 billion. This
is broken down into 26,000 hours of media,
entertainment and other content, plus 20,000
hours of television series, which includes about
600 dramas.” These numbers are impressive
and provide proof as to why MBC towers over
the competition. Add in Disney and Fox’s output
and there’s a very real chance that Shahid might
extend that market domination. But Netflix and
Amazon are also busy and are far from standing
idly by.
BRANDS. Neither are international brands,
whether from the Discovery family or Viacom.
Viacom is a perfect case in point, and it has
partnered with Abu Dhabi’s Department of
Culture & Tourism (DCT). Raffaele Annecchino
is president of Viacom/CBS Networks for the
wider MENA area, the Abu Dhabi deal, he says,
is typical and extremely important. “MENA is
a region of major importance for ViacomCBS,
and actually has been for the last five years one
of the regions of the highest growth for Viacom
in the world. Thanks to our partnership with
OSN we have launched a total of eight channels
and nine brands, including MTV, Nickelodeon,
Paramount Channel, Comedy Central and more.”
“Most of them are regionalised, and we have
launched several non-linear products, one of
them is the Nickelodeon Play (Nick App),” he
advises. “At the same time, we distribute all
content on almost all platforms that are available
in the region and our strategic approach in the
MENA region is absolutely a high priority for us.
In addition, we are a global, 360 entertainment
company including live events including in the
Middle East with a number of big events linked
“We aim to substantially
increase the size of our
investment in drama
productions, of which the
majority will be original.”
- Marc Antoine d’Halluin,
MBC
12 EUROMEDIA MENA Special