“Too many platforms” but Arabic SVOD to show steady subs growth
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Joseph O'Halloran
| 31 August 2021
The tyranny of choice is about to shape the subscription video-on-demand market in the 13 leading Arabic countries, with the market rising from 8.61 million paying SVOD customers by the end of this year to 15 million by 2026 says a study from Digital TV Research.
Netflix arabic multiple device 31AUG2021
Over the course of the next five years, the study predicts that market leader Netflix will grow from 3.446 million subscribers to 5.413 million beating comfortably second-place local operator OSN which will see customer numbers rise from 945,000 at the end of 2021 to 2.562 million. OSN’s numbers will be boosted by its content supply deal with Disney+ in the Arabic countries. Starz Play is set to see subs numbers transition from 1.723 million to 2.21 million while Amazon will come from a relatively low standing in 2021 to total 1.892 million by 2026, overtaking Shahid VIP which is set to have 1.405 million.

Yet, despite what it said what would likely be “impressive” growth in subs umbers, the analyst warned in its Middle East and North Africa SVOD Forecasts report that there were “just too many” Arabic platforms.

“We do not believe that the market can sustain this many Arabic platforms as few of them offer much original or exclusive content,” said Simon Murray, principal analyst at Digital TV Research.