The Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region has long been a hotspot for pirating live TV channels, slowing the arrival in the Middle East of premier networks and movie studios. But just as with piracy havens in Southeast Asia and elsewhere, the MENA is evolving into a more mature marketplace with greater respect for content providers and stepped up punishments for programming thieves.
Case in point, the Dubai government is cracking down significantly on illegally receiving programming from Dish TV, Tata Sky and others. This crackdown includes sweeps of living communities and removal of unlawful satellite dishes that transmit content from unlicensed TV providers as well as heavy fines for violators.
As the article linked above notes, part of this anti-piracy push is to appease Dubai-based Orbit Showtime, one of the regions most successful pay TV operators and Dubai’s Du TV must likewise be encouraged by this offensive which preserves and fuels for Middle East subscribers a vibrant mix of the world’s most popular channels and film studios.
Of course, the best way to limit illegal viewing lies not with legal authorities but with offering a product that is more compelling than what can be received at little or no cost. Besides incredible programming at a fair price with flexible channel packages and a quality user-experience, live TV and VOD differentiates the very most from stolen entertainment by being available anywhere, at any time and on any device over any network.
Descrambling signals is often only possible via a set-top box. No iOS or Android viewing there. Pirated platforms are also almost never capable of customer-favorite DVR. And forget world-class viewing quality across all channels and every device. Torrents simply can’t touch the quality of experience found with legitimate pay TV and subscription video on demand portals.
MENA operators are moving quickly to combat piracy with incredible programming and a superior user-experience bundled with high-speed broadband and other connected services. These moves are a big driving force behind the significant projected growth in pay TV over through 2020, including annual IPTV revenue eclipsing one billion dollars thanks to the anticipated 10x growth of MENA IPTV between 2010 to 2020.
The Dubai happenings are one more sign that the MENA is joining the big leagues of the pay TV universe. If you’re considering launching or expanding your pay TV offerings in the Middle East, North Africa and elsewhere, Matrixstream Technologies can provide a one-vendor, cost-effective solution to quickly ramp up your mission critical triple and quad-play bundles with the anchor of a formidable TV and VOD offering far superior to illegal options. Contact us today for more information.