MEA SVOD Subscriptions Set for Fivefold Increase

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LONDON: The SVOD sector in the Middle East and Africa is forecast to have nearly 20 million paying SVOD subscribers by 2021, up from 3.7 million expected by end-2016, according to Digital TV Research.

Netflix is expected to reach 3.37 million subs in the MEA region by 2021, followed by Icflix with 1.85 million, iRoko with 1.55 million, Starz Play with 1.39 million and ShowMax with 992,000.

Simon Murray, principal analyst at Digital TV Research, said: “Although the top five international players will enjoy rapid growth, they will account for less than half the region’s SVOD subscribers by 2021—showing that, despite some signs of congestion already, there will still be room for new entrants.”