MENA Pay TV Revenues to Fall by US$ 1.5 Billion

London, UK, January 17, 2022--Pay TV revenues for 20 countries in the Middle East and North Africa region will fall by 38% between peak year 2016 (US$ 3.84 Billion) and 2027 (US$ 2.39 Billion) according to a new report by Digital TV Research.

Simon Murray, Principal Analyst at Digital TV Research, said: “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.”

Pay TV revenues for the 13 Arabic-speaking countries will be US$ 915 million by 2027; down from US$ 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 US$ 722 million in 2027; US$ 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 US$ 1.15 billion to US$ 437 million over the same period.

For more information on the Middle East and North Africa Pay TV Forecasts report, please contact: Simon Murray, simon@digitaltvresearch.com, Tel: +44 20 8248 5051