Starz Play hits 1m subscribers

Starz Play, the UAE homegrown subscription video on demand (SVOD) service, has announced that it has hit a major milestone in its expansion plans and hit one million subscribers.
Speaking at a media roundtable on Monday, Maaz Sheikh, CEO and co-founder at Starz Play, highlighted the startup's journey since its inception in 2014. "We started with just around 2,500 hours of content; today, with Pakistan as our latest market entry, we operate in 20 countries and offer 10,000 hours of content. We have raised over $125 million in three rounds of funding since we started. We are one of the few services globally that has partnerships and licences content from all major US studios. Studios have proven to be keen to work with us because they recognise the potential for growth in the Middle East markets."
Sheikh also spoke about how the business has grown 300 per cent year on year since it launched in 2015. The group has plans to continue its expand its footprint in the region. "Lionsgate and Starz are our top content partners. In our key markets, we have multiple partnerships because we try to have coverage in every market that we operate in. We started 2018 with a very strong five year partnership with Etisalat and followed that up with retail distribution partnership in KSA. We continue to lead the Middle East and North Africa (Mena) market in terms of online video subscriptions and online video revenues - with a market share of 24 per cent and 31.53 per cent respectively."
Asked about the market condition and how they will impact the group's growth, Sheikh said that Starz Play was favourably placed. SVOD revenues in the Mena region are predicted to reach $2.1 billion by 2024. Sheikh said that there are still plenty of opportunities for the group to expand its offerings. "We see ourselves, not as a global player, but as a regional player. We have to keep this in mind for our future plans. We know that there is a demand for exclusive content, but at the same time there is also a demand for older TV shows that were extremely popular and still enjoy a large fan following. As long as we give consumers the content that they are looking for at a very attractive rate, then we will continue to grow."
It is this approach that has the company shrug off concerns about piracy and how it is eating into the market. "Digital piracy is a global phenomenon that has always been around and will continue to exist. Our research has shown us that more than half of consumers have more than one subscription to a video on demand service. When you have rates that are around Dh50 for a month, then it is easy for people to get two service subscriptions. We have seen that the main reason people cancel a service is so that they can rotate between services in order to follow the content that they are after."
- rohma@khaleejtimes.com