Frost & Sullivan presented on Cabsat – 2016 the conclusions on their MENA market research within the panel discussion “MENA – Media market ready for a shake-up as a result of disruptive technologies and business models?”.
The consumer market is ripe for increase in distribution of HD TV channels as well as multi-screen videos. However, falling oil prices, political strife, and inconsistent growth in advertising revenues are challenging the broadcast industry. While technologies have matured for adoption to drive new-age content distribution, broadcasters and Pay TV operators are still struggling on structuring viable business models to realise faster ROIs.
Frost & Sullivan finds that nearly 60 per cent of TV households in the MENA have HDTVs and more than half have HD satellite TV receivers. In Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) alone, 85 per cent of TV households have HDTVs and HD receivers. However, less than a fourth of channels available in the region are transmitted in HD.
“High-definition is becoming a way of life across the MENA. The difference between luxury and premium is fast blurring in the way consumers perceive and purchase products. The growing HD footprint in the region is a positive sign for broadcasters to take their transmission to the next level. In order to maintain their competitive edge, they will need to respond to expectations of high-quality user experience and push out more and more HD content,” noted Vidya Nath, Director – Digital media, Frost & Sullivan.
In parallel, there is a significant increase in multilingual content sourcing. A melting pot of diverse expat population, the region offers opportunities to international as well as local content producers to offer popular content. However, the market is highly fragmented and requires a deep rooted understanding of the local ecosystem of content and technology partners.
