Gains Forecast for MENA SVOD Revenues

SVOD revenues in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) are expected to triple between 2018 and 2024 to reach $2.1 billion, according to Digital TV Research.

Major drivers will include Turkey, with $556 million in SVOD revenues by 2024; South Arabia, with $402 million; and Israel, with $398 million.

“We forecast 26.51 million SVOD subscriptions [an SVOD subscriber can have more than one subscription] by 2024, up from 11.31 million recorded by end-2018,” said Simon Murray, principal analyst at Digital TV Research. “Turkey will remain the leader with 11.52 million subs by 2024. We forecast 11.87 million SVOD subscriptions in the 13 Arab-speaking countries covered in this report by 2024—nearly triple from the 4.13 million recorded at end-2018.”

In those 13 Arabic markets, eight platforms will hold 95 percent of the market. They are Netflix, Amazon Prime Video, Icflix, Starz Play, Iflix, Wavo, beIN Connect and Shahid Plus.

Across the region, Netflix will be out front with 7.7 million subs, of which 4.2 million will be in Arabic-speaking countries. Starz Play will be the second-largest platform in the Arabic markets with 3 million customers by 2024, followed by Shahid Plus with 1.8 million. In Turkey, Tivibu and Turkcell are expected to remain ahead of Netflix.