Amazon Prime Video: quick look at the content in Middle East
The Streaming Lab - MENA #008
Hey 👋 - Yann here.
This is the 8th issue of The Streaming Lab - MENA.
Each Saturday, I analyse 1 topic to better understand the OTT market in Middle East & North Africa.
Before I start, I would like to thank FX Digital and Jay Haley for including me in the 16 Must-Follow Thought Leaders in the OTT Space.
Enjoy the show.
This week, I’m reviewing the content available on Amazon Prime Video in Middle East & North Africa.
The global giant has one of the world’s largest streaming libraries, split into 3 main categories (TV Shows, Movies and Kids) and 14 genres: Action and Adventure, Comedy, Drama, Documentary, Kids and Family, Fantasy, Horror, Romance, Science-Fiction, Suspense, Indian TV and movies, Anime, Sports and Crime.
I’m sharing with you below 3 video clips scrolling through the main content categories.
TV Shows
A lot of Amazon Originals are available, from the first well-known stories (The Grand Tour, The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, The Man in the High Castle) to the latest new releases (The Terminal List, The Summer I Turned Pretty, The Boys season 3, etc.).
The much anticipated Lord of the Rings prequel « The Rings of Power » will premiere soon on the platform beginning of September. You’ll find the link to watch the new trailer at the end of this article.
Prime Video is also home of many high quality series from different genres:
Comedies: The Office, Two and a Half Men, Russel Peters: Deported, James May
Crime: Mr. Robot, The Mentalist, Reacher
Sci-Fi: The Expanse, Night Sky, Outer Range
Documentaries: Maradona Blessed Dream, The Pogmentary, Nabilla Sans Filtre, Regular Heroes
Indian TV: Panchayat, The Family Man, Suzhal
Let’s have a look at the most watched content this week (Top 10 TV Series - UAE):
The Terminal List (US)
The Boys Season 3 (US)
Suzhal - The Vortex (India)
Modern Love Hyderabad (India)
Panchayat Season 2 (India)
The Summer I Turned Pretty (US)
Reacher (US)
Mirzapur Season 2 (India)
The Family Man Season 2 (India)
The Wheel of Time (US)
As you can see, the Top series come exclusively from the US (x5) and India (x5). It looks like Indian TV Shows are an important part of Prime Video content offering, with a full category dedicated to this content.
Amazon also started localising its content for Arabic audiences, with 115 TV Series subtitled in Arabic already available.
Movies
Prime Video regularly produces Originals movies. 71 are available in UAE today: The Tomorrow War, Tom Clancy Without Remorse, All the Old Knives, Bliss, Don’t Make Me Go, etc.
The streaming service is also home to a lot of blockbusters: The Revenant, The Mummy, American Made, The Big Short, The 40 Year-Old Virgin, King Kong, Ex-Machina, Fast & Furious 7.
And the classics are there too: Jaws, Gladiator, Once Upon a Time in America, Scent of a Woman, American Gangster, The Big Lebowski, etc.
What are the most watched movies of the week in UAE?
Runway (India)
Samrat Prithviraj (India)
The Mummy (US)
Sarkaru Vaari Paata (India)
Boss baby (US)
K.G.F Chapter 2 (India)
Jayeshbhai Jordaar (India)
Jo & Jo (India)
American Made (US)
Jack N Jill (India)
Like the TV Shows section, there are many Top movies coming from India and even a carousel dedicated to Tamil movies with 82 titles:
Prime Video put efforts and resources in subtitling a large volume of movies in Arabic. However, there is no significant movie coming from MENA creators.
Kids
Prime Video also offers Originals kids TV & movies: Kung Fu Panda The Paws of Destiny, Lost in Oz, Pete The Cat, Bibi & Tina, Hotel Transylvania 4: Transformania, etc.
With no surprise, the Top movies come from Dreamworks studio: The Boss Baby, Madagascar, Kung Fu Panda 3, The Croods, Home, Turbo, Trolls.
The platform seems to cover most of the age groups:
Preschoolers: Peppa Pig, The Stinky & Dirty Show, Do Re Mi
Kids: Lego Marvel Superheroes, Bug Diaries, Where’s Waldo?
Teens: Just Add Magic, The Kicks, Gortimer Gibbon’s
What’s surprising is that Prime Video doesn’t have a dedicated user interface for kids yet.
As a conclusion, Prime Video offers a significant volume of content and very premium titles in Middle East, mixing Originals with acquisitions.
However, Amazon should localize its content strategy if they want to compete with the regional OTT ecosystem in the long run and:
Acquire Arabic TV Shows, movies, short forms and eSports content from local creators
Co-produce originals with production houses from the region
That’s all for today, 1 tip to better understand the content strategy of Amazon Prime Video in Middle East & North Africa.
See you online next week. Until then, enjoy the new trailer of The Rings of Power on Amazon Prime Video.
- Yann
Whenever you’re ready, there are 3 ways I can help you with:
If you want to learn more about OTT in MENA, I’d recommend starting with my market report:
→ The local OTT ecosystem in MENA: Learn everything about the local streaming services in the region. Get full access here.
License premium FAST & On Demand content on TVToday.
Hire top streaming experts for short-term assignments on OTTpro.