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Middle East Presents Huge Growth Opportunities for Pay TV Industry, According to New IHS Report
[April 08, 2014]

Middle East Presents Huge Growth Opportunities for Pay TV Industry, According to New IHS Report


LONDON --(Business Wire)--

IHS (News - Alert) Inc. (NYSE: IHS), a leading global source of critical information and insight, today announced key findings from its annual Middle East Media Market Monitor. The report estimates that at the end of 2013, 4.35 million households in the Middle East North Africa (MENA) region subscribed to at least one Pay TV service.

"There are 300 million households in the region and it is growing faster than any other emerging market," said report author Constantinos Papavassilopoulos, senior analyst at IHS Technology. "That presents huge opportunities for businesses in this sector. Last year was the third in a row and the eighth since 2004 where Pay TV penetration rates grew. We expect those numbers to grow in the years ahead."

Key findings:

  • The MENA Pay TV market grew rapidly in 2013, as it has done for eight of the last 10 years, reaching 4.35 million subscribers (9.4 percent of the households in the region);
  • 2013 growth was primarily supported by an impressive rise in satellite operator OSN's customers;
  • High IPTV (News - Alert) uptake contributed equally to last year's Pay TV growth;
  • Satellite's dominance, as a TV platform, rests unabated in the MENA region;
  • BeIN Sports Arabia and OSN are forming a virtual duopoly in MENA's satellite Pay TV market; and
  • A large HD channel offer is not complemented by a clear and concrete monetization strategy.

"We examined 13 countries in MENA and looked at data across the operator and technology levels, OTT business models as well as mobile and fixed broadband dynamics. The report is the result of insights across the Media and Telcoms teams that examine both risks and opportunities for businesses operating in the region," Papavassilopoulos said.

The MENA Pay TV market grew rapidly in 2013

Last year the Pay TV market grew 11.2 percent in terms of market share and 14.13 percent in terms of subscriber numbers. Over the last decade (2004 - 2013) the number of primary Pay TV subscribers almost quadrupled from 1.33 million in 2004 to 4.35 million in 2013, growing at an annual average rate of 14.64 percent. The Gulf states (Saudi Arabia, UAE, Kuwait, Qatar, Oman, Bahrain) account for two out of three Pay TV households (or 66 percent of the total). There are huge disparities in the uptake of Pay TV services across the region where UAE has the highest penetration rate at 85 percent and Egypt the lowest with just 2.4 percent.

2013 growth was primarily supported by an impressive rise in satellite operator OSN's customers; High IPTV uptake contributed equally to last year's Pay TV growth

Dubai-based OSN executed a policy of attracting new customers (through acquisitions and enrichment of its ontent offer) and of targeting new markets that has paid off. Between Q4 2012 and Q4 2013, OSN's subscriber base increased by 32.3 percent.



One in four Pay TV households (25.56 percent) now take an IPTV offer while just four years earlier (in 2009) only one out of 15 Pay TV households subscribed to an IPTV package. IPTV uptake was highest in the UAE and Qatar. In the UAE, IPTV is the largest Pay TV platform, accounting for 70.82 percent of the market, while in Qatar, Ooredoo's IPTV service (Mozaic TV) controls the largest market share among all Pay TV operators with 32 percent.

Satellite's dominance, as a TV platform, rests unabated in the MENA region


For the vast majority of MENA countries, satellite continues to be the pre-eminent service for receiving television signals, both encrypted and free-to-air (FTA). In 2013 it exceeded a 90 percent primary TV set penetration rate among all TV households. In the Pay TV landscape, satellite is slightly less salient, due in part to the existence of IPTV. According to IHS data, at the end of 2013 satellite controlled 74.4 percent of the Pay TV market while IPTV's share stood at 25.56 percent.

BeIN Sports Arabia and OSN are forming a virtual duopoly in MENA's satellite Pay TV market

BeIN Sports Arabia (formerly known as Al Jazeera Sports) and OSN have managed to attract the vast bulk of satellite subscribers establishing a virtual duopoly in the market. Since 2009 (year of the merger between Showtime and Orbit to form OSN, and the year of Al Jazeera's acquisition of all ART sports channels), the combined market share of BeIN Sports Arabia and OSN fluctuated between 85 percent and 82 percent. The recent acquisition of the English Premier League rights by BeIN Sports Arabia as well as the acquisition of South-Asian Pay TV operator Pehla by OSN will further reinforce this trend, according to IHS.

A large HD channel offer is not complemented by a clear and concrete monetization strategy

The HD channels offer in the MENA region experienced an explosive growth from just two HD channels in 2009 to 158 in the first two months of 2014. However, 71 HD channels, or around 45 percent of the total offer, are being provided for free. The free HD offer in MENA is higher than the total HD offer in countries like Italy, Spain, Russia, Australia and South Africa. Pay TV operators do not have a policy of up-selling their HD content. My-HD Media, a Dubai-based channel aggregator, is testing the waters launching in mid-2013 a low-cost offer of HD channels tied with the purchase of a specific set-top box with no further subscription charges for the first 12 months.

Report Methodology:

All forecasts in IHS Technology - MENA Media & Telecoms Intelligence Service are done in-house based on historical and current data gathered first-hand directly from the companies concerned, and from trade bodies, regulatory authorities or government departments with which IHS Technology maintains a relationship. IHS does not rely on third-party sources for its reports. This approach provides a sound basis on which to develop IHS models, all of which are built company-by-company and technology-by-technology. Totals are then derived from the component parts and are thus wholly granular.

Countries included in the study are: Algeria, Bahrain, Egypt, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Libya, Morocco, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Tunisia and the UAE.

IHS Forum Dubai to highlight key Middle East growth markets

The first ever IHS Forum in Dubai will bring together industry leaders and the top IHS experts to examine key growth markets and innovation sectors within the Middle East.

The IHS Forum, Dubai 2014 will be held at the Intercontinental Dubai Festival City, from 27-29 April. Further information and delegate registration is available at

http://ihsglobalevents.com/forum/dubai2014/register/

About IHS (www.ihs.com)
IHS (NYSE: IHS) is the leading source of information, insight and analytics in critical areas that shape today's business landscape. Businesses and governments in more than 165 countries around the globe rely on the comprehensive content, expert independent analysis and flexible delivery methods of IHS to make high-impact decisions and develop strategies with speed and confidence. IHS has been in business since 1959 and became a publicly traded company on the New York Stock Exchange in 2005. Headquartered in Englewood, Colorado, USA, IHS is committed to sustainable, profitable growth and employs more than 8,000 people in 31 countries around the world.

IHS is a registered trademark of IHS Inc. All other company and product names may be trademarks of their respective owners. © 2014 IHS Inc. All rights reserved.


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