Arab Content Heading to iTunes

AMMAN: Media group Arab Telemedia is due to roll out 44 of its series and movies on iTunes, marking the first time a production company has released Arab content in the digital store.

The company will upload the first batch of seven productions on June 6, which is the start of Ramadan. One of the first series to be uploaded will be The Invasion. The group plans to eventually expand to other major VOD platforms.

Arab Telemedia used the NEP The Netherlands UpperEast software solution to manage and distribute the video content.

Fadi Al Shwaihat, the COO of Arab Telemedia, said: “We researched many solutions and providers to make our content as highly available as possible, and found NEP to be the most convenient; with its excellent track record and being a certified partner of iTunes for TV content, NEP offers a one-stop-shop solution for handling all of our content. Other providers did not meet up to our standards. The highly professional teams of young and fresh individuals make the experience a good, learning and fun ride. They took us through the process step by step and were there for us 24/7.”

“Arab Telemedia aims big!” said Karel van der Flier, the CCO of NEP The Netherlands. “This is a production company with high-value video content. It’s a perfect first step to extend its presence on a platform like [the] iTunes Store. Our UpperEast solution handles all steps of the mastering, managing and distributing: from ingest and content preparation to delivery. Besides this, Arab Telemedia only has to upload its content once, because UpperEast makes it available for future use for other (VOD) platforms. We’re looking forward to a long and fruitful partnership.”