MENA digital video viewing - and willingness to pay - on the rise


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Joseph O'Halloran

| 27 May 2016




It’s one of the toughest pay-TV markets to crack but research from Ipsos Connect has revealed that a rise in digital video viewing in the Middle East and North Africa will drive monetisation in the region.



MENA pay TV 27 May 2016As reported by eMarketer, at least half of respondents in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Qatar, Egypt, Lebanon, Morocco and Saudi Arabia said they watched films digitally.

The survey also found that three-quarters of Qatar respondents had performed that activity in the 12 months leading up to its December 2015 polling. United Arab Emirates (UAE) came in second place (71%), followed by Egypt (68%). For digital TV viewing, the UAE took the top spot. Nearly half (48%) of Internet users there said they had watched TV programmes digitally during the survey period. Lebanon and Qatar were not far behind, however, at 47% each.

The analyst added that the market for digital video in the Middle East and Africa would to grow further during 2016. Most interestingly, and contrary to the region’s popular perception, Ipsos found that the majority of digital video viewers in the region were prepared to pay for some type of digital video. In particular, they were most likely to pay for sports, documentaries or international programming but were not so willing to pay for Arabic-language video content. Talking to eMarketer, Joud Nawar, senior research manager at Ipsos MENA, said: “2016 is set to be a battleground in MENA for digital video platforms. Internet users there are showing interest in subscribing to online video services, and most users are willing to pay for content.”