Advanced Television

osn

Forecast: GCC VoD revenue $2.1bn by 2026

The Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) video industry grew revenue by 11 per cent Y/Y in 2021 to reach $1.9 billion (€1.6bn), according to the GCC Video & Broadband Distribution 2021 report from Media Partners Asia (MPA). The report provides analysis of telecoms, online video, pay-TV and free TV industries across the six Gulf Cooperation Council […]

February 23, 2022

Study: MENA video needs “more edgy content”

A White Paper from Comcast Technology Solutions, released ahead of Dubai’s CabSat, says that the MENA region offers “a thriving and dynamic market in which to operate for content, streaming providers, and distributors”. But the broadcast market cannot stand still, warns the study. It quotes Luis Duran, the former CCO at MBC’s Shahid and now […]

October 7, 2021By Chris Forrester

OSN goes live with ThinkAnalytics

ThinkAnalytics has announced that OSN, an entertainment hub in the MENA region, has gone live with Think360 on its OSN Streaming service in more than 20 markets, providing subscribers with a personalised user experience, including an enhanced recommendations and sophisticated search engine. Think360 is a critical part of OSN’s digital transformation which included a complete […]

September 8, 2021

Analyst: 15m Arabic SVoD subs by 2026

There will be 15 million SVoD subscriptions across 13 Arabic countries by 2026, up from 8.61 million in 2021, according to the Middle East and North Africa SVOD Forecasts report from analyst firm Digital TV Research. Netflix will bring in more subscribers than second-place OSN and third-placed StarzPlay combined. [Disney+ will not start in the […]

August 31, 2021

Desai named OSN interim CEO

Dubai-based pay-TV operator OSN has seen CEO Patrick Tillieux depart for “personal reasons”, and a new interim CEO appointed in Sangeeta Desai. Faisal Al Ayyar, Chairman of OSN, commented: “The Board is delighted that Sangeeta has accepted the position of Interim CEO, which will increase her involvement with OSN as she works towards the Board’s […]

August 31, 2021By Chris Forrester

Comcast Technology Solutions selected by OSN

Comcast Technology Solutions, a division of Comcast Cable that provides media and entertainment technology to content providers, operators, and advertisers, has announced that its Cloud TV Suite serves the back-end platform for OSN’s video entertainment service, OSN Streaming App. OSN is an entertainment network provider across MENA, offering an extensive range of exclusive and original […]

July 15, 2021

OSN unveils updated OTT platform

Dubai-based pay-TV operator OSN launched its OTT service a month ago but has used a local round-table to outline the benefits of the technology. CEO Patrick Tillieux and CTO Peter Riz stressed that the new technology was extremely flexible, and able to be improved and evolve with market demands. Also present was David Kovacs, CTO […]

June 22, 2021By Chris Forrester

Dubai’s OSN ramping up original content

OSN, the Dubai-based pay-TV operator, is ramping up its own original productions. Recent studio deals have seen it add the latest output from the likes of Disney+, HBO, NBCUniversal, Paramount and MGM. Rolla Karam, OSN’s interim Chief Content Officer, in an interview with Arab News, said that its OTT service (‘OSN Streaming’) has been an […]

May 5, 2021By Chris Forrester

Analyst: MENA to add 18m SVoD subs

The 20 countries in the Middle East and North Africa region will have 32.65 million SVoD subscriptions by 2026, up from the 14.16 million recorded at end-2020, according to the Middle East and North Africa OTT TV and Video Forecasts report from analyst firm Digital TV Research. Turkey will remain the market leader by a […]

February 9, 2021

Abu Dhabi police raid pay-TV pirates

Abu Dhabi Police have arrested three people and raided several shops as part of a concerted effort against TV piracy, following a complaint from pay-TV operator OSN. “Piracy is causing enormous losses for the entertainment industry, the authorities and the end users,” declared Hanif Khan, director of anti-piracy and content security at OSN, who noted […]

October 5, 2020By Colin Mann