MENA Pay TV Revenues Continue to Fall

London, UK, January 20, 2021--Pay TV revenues for the 20 countries in the Middle East and North Africa region fell by 14% between 2016 and 2020 to $2.74 billion. Revenues will continue to fall slowly - to $2.52 billion in 2026 according to Digital TV Research. The 2026 revenues will be 23% lower than 2016.

Simon Murray, Principal Analyst at Digital TV Research, said: “Five countries will contribute 78% of the region’s pay TV revenues in 2026. Turkey and Israel together will supply nearly half of the total. There are few winners. Eight of the 20 countries will lose revenues between 2020 and 2026.”

Turkish pay TV revenues will reach $752 million in 2026; 17% lower than the peak year of 2016. However, the number of pay TV subscribers will grow from 7.27 million in 2020 to 7.64 million in 2026.

Israel is experiencing cord-cutting. It will lose 28% of its pay TV subs between 2020 to 2026. Digital TV research forecasts that Israel’s pay TV revenues will halve between 2016 and 2026. Beyond these figures, Israel’s OTT sector will grow significantly.

For the 13 Arabic-speaking countries, pay TV revenues will remain at about $1 billion despite subscriber numbers increasing by 18% to 4 million.