MENA pay TV revenues to fall by $1.5 billion

Pay TV revenues for 20 countries in the Middle East and North Africa region will fall by 38% between peak year 2016 ($3.84 billion) and 2027 ($2.39 billion), according to Digital TV Research. Moreover, Pay TV revenues for the 13 Arabic-speaking countries will be $915 million by 2027; down from $1,571 million in 2016. Pay TV subscriber numbers will fall from 3.70 million to 3.14 million over the same period. 

Turkish pay TV revenues will reach $722 million in 2027; $188 million lower than in 2016. However, the number of pay TV subscribers will grow from 5.92 million in 2016 to 8.25 million in 2027 – so subscribers are paying less. Cord-cutting in Israel will see 46% of its pay TV subs lost between 2014 to 2027. Pay TV revenues will fall from $1.15 billion to $437 million over the same period.The UAE, Saudi Arabia and Kazakhstan will be placed as the third, fourth and fifth-largest pay TV markets in the region with respective revenues of US$277 million, US$252 million and US$137 million.

“Pay TV has never had an easy ride the MENA region. First was the battle with widespread piracy. Next the Saudi government and others banned beIN for four years. Traditional pay TV subscribers are now converting to SVOD platforms,” Simon Murray, Principal Analyst at Digital TV Research, said.