Forecast: MENA to add 2m pay-TV subs by 2028
January 23, 2023
The number of pay-TV subscribers in 20 MENA countries will increase from 17.32 million in 2022 to 19.20 million in 2028, according to the Middle East and North Africa Pay TV Forecasts report from analyst firm Digital TV Research. Legitimate pay-TV penetration will remain at only 19 per cent. IPTV subscribers overtook pay satellite TV in 2022.
About 62 per cent of the region’s TV households will receive free-to-air satellite TV signals by 2028. FTA satellite penetration is highest in the Arabic-speaking countries. Another fifth of the region’s TV households will take FTA DTT.
Pay-TV revenues will fall by 36 per cent between peak year 2016 ($3.84 billion [€3.5bn) and 2028 ($2.47 billion). This comes despite the number of pay-TV subscribers growing – which means that ARPUs are falling.
“Legitimate pay-TV penetration will remain low in the MENA region,” advises Simon Murray, Principal Analyst at Digital TV Research. “First was the battle against widespread piracy. Traditional pay-TV subscribers are now converting to SVoD platforms.”