For the first time, the number of Middle East and North Africa pay-TV households, rose above the five million mark, making the region one of the fastest growing globally. The rise took place, despite harsh economic conditions, according to research by IHS Markit.
Revenues rose accordingly by 15% to $2.27 billion last year. The growth is expected to continue, and in 2021, the number of pay-TV homes will reach seven million, with revenues almost doubling to $4.03 billion.
Two operators have 55% of the satellite revenue in MENA
The two satellite operators, beIN Media Group and OSN, dominate the region’s market, controlling over 60% of subscribers and over 55% of revenues for the last seven years. Last year was the first year that the two operators directly competed against each other.
The online video market revenues reached $500 million in 2016, representing a growth of 51% compared to the previous year for the region.
The most successful business was found to be video advertising, representing over 65% percent of the total revenue for 2016. YouTube has huge appeal in the region, with countries like Saudi Arabia second only to the US, in terms of hours watching videos on YouTube.
IHS Markit believes that almost half of the total online video revenues will come from online subscription services by 2020, as the subscription model gains ground at the expense of advertising-driven models.
Subscription services saw a 137% growth last year, helped by the launch of Netflix plus others. Subscription service revenues accounted for over 30% of the online video market in 2016, and is expected to rise to 45% to grow by more than $1.5 billion by 2020.
