Posted inMedia

UAE’s Starz Play says subscriber numbers top 1 million

UAE-based subscription video on demand service announces achievement, five years after launch

Starz Play said it will seek to increase market share in 2019 as well its subscriber base, with additional investments enabling further geographical expansion.
Starz Play said it will seek to increase market share in 2019 as well its subscriber base, with additional investments enabling further geographical expansion.

Starz Play, the UAE-based subscription video on demand (SVOD) service and digital start-up, has announces that it has reached one million subscribers.

Since inception in 2014, the business has successfully secured $125 million in three rounds of funding and secured tie ups with a host of global studios including MGM, 20th Century Fox, Disney, Warner Bros, Universal and Fox International Channels.

Maaz Sheikh, CEO and co-founder at Starz Play, said: “It’s an exciting time for Starz Play – particularly our reaching one million subscribers this year. We look forward to continuing to build on our success as we progress with our expansion plans across MENA into 2019 and beyond.”

He added: “In an increasingly competitive space, we have managed to differentiate our offering to the benefit of the customer, through working closely with partner telecom providers to offer subscribers a payment method that does not rely only on online subscription, as well as by investing in world-class content that people want to watch and watch again.”

He said Starz Play will seek to increase market share in 2019 as well its subscriber base, with additional investments enabling further geographical expansion.

“Conditions are looking favourable for our sector, helping Starz Play go from strength to strength, with SVOD revenues in the MENA region predicted to reach $2.1 billion by 2024,” he added.

Starz Play is now available in 20 countries across the Middle East, North Africa and Pakistan, with more than 10,000 hours of content including premium movies, exclusive series, Bollywood movies as well as Arabic series.

It said it has secured its place as the number one player in the MENA region in terms of online video subscriptions and online video revenues – with a market share of 24 percent and 31.53 percent respectively.

Follow us on

For all the latest business news from the UAE and Gulf countries, follow us on Twitter and LinkedIn, like us on Facebook and subscribe to our YouTube page, which is updated daily.