MENA anti-piracy group closes 22 channels
April 26, 2018
By Chris Forrester
Channel and content piracy is being further attacked by the MENA Broadcast Satellite Anti-Piracy Coalition which has confirmed successful actions against 18 illegal Arabic-language channels and four international channels, allegedly guilty of showing unlicensed or deliberately pirated content.
The Coalition also announced a batch of new members, including beIN; Es’hailSat; Front Row; Muso; My HD and TMG. The claim is that some 2.71 billion downloads of pirated material have been made in the past year. Satellite broadcasters cited include Yahsat and Eutelsat, although the satellite operators are often obliged to see established – and often complex – contracts with third-party companies come to an end before ceasing transmissions.
Sam Barnett, CEO of MBC Group, the leading broadcaster in the region, said: “Since its last meeting, the coalition has stopped 18 television channels broadcasting pirated Arabic content and four channels broadcasting Western content.”
Martin Stewart, CEO of OSN, and a founding member of the Coalition, said: “OSN is committed to providing customers with world-class entertainment, anytime, anywhere. Piracy, however, severely stifles the broadcast industry’s ability to innovate and grow.
The group said that channels shut down include Egypt Life, 2M Comedy and 2M Film on the satellite Yahsat, as well as A Cinema, Wave Cinema, Egypt Life, Misr Al Balad, Beirut Cinema, Cinema B, T-Film, T-Cinema, T-Taxi and T-Comedy.