Hey streamers 👋
Welcome to the 27th edition of The Streaming Lab - MENA. Thanks for reading me!
You can read all the previous editions here, and subscribe below to get the newsletter every Saturday.
Agenda
This week, I’m telling you what happened during Dubai International Content Market 2022.
What is DICM?
The content sellers
The content buyers
FAST model is travelling to MENA
What to expect in 2023?
Enjoy the show!
What is DICM?
Dubai International Content Market is MENA’s biggest gathering of providers from all over the world and buyers from the region: OTT platforms, Pay-TV & IPTV providers, TV channels, etc.
DICM is also an online content marketplace where content sellers & buyers can build relationships all year long and strengthen their brand image regionally.
The content sellers
The market was fully booked this year, with 60+ exhibitors coming from 13 countries:
Russia
Turkey
South Korea
UAE
Spain
UK
Jordan
France
Syria
India
Germany
China
Colombia
2 exhibitors caught my attention:
Arab Comics (UAE)
Arab Comics is an Emirati content creator specialized in Comics & Animation.
If you don’t know yet Sharar’s World and Multiverse, The Challenger & Sky Falcon, you should hear from those superheroes very soon!
Pixitoon (Jordan)
Pixitoon is a Jordanian animation production and distribution company specialised in educational content.
They also launched a mobile application and an electronic book focused on their main IP: Marah world.
And here is the full list of content exhibitors this year:
AC Comics, Anatoy, ATV, All Media, All3Media, Blue Media, CJ ENM, Caracol, Cyber Group Studios, Digital Television Russia, Eccho Rights, Fantawild Animation, Final Frontier Entertainment, France 24, Friday!TV, GraphyToon, Ha International, Haciyatmaz Group, Haedal Friends, Haymillian, Hijjawi Productions, Indiacast Media / Viacom18, Inter Medyal, KBS Media, Kion, Kanal D international, Lichi Studios, MediaPro, Mistco, Movistar Plus+, Motion Pictures Entertainment, NTV Broadcasting Company, Odin-Media, Onza Distribution, Parovoz Animation Studio, PH E&M Corporation, Pimanov Partners, Pixitoon, Pound Cat Town, Russia Television And Radio, Raya Group, Red Arrow, Riki Group, Russian Content Worldwide, Russkoe Film Company, Sama Art, Saran Studios, SLL, SMF Animation, SREDA Production Company, START, Scorpion TV, Semerkand Production, Turkiye Radio Television Corporation, X-Media Digital, Zee Entertainment, Zodiak Kids & Family Distribution, Zookiz Co.
The content buyers
Here are the MENA-based media companies that were listed as buyers:
Noor Play, Qanawat, Qazaqstan, Ready To Broadcast, Shahid, Spafax, TenTime, Weyyak, Zee5, 2M, Aan, Al Dafrah TV, AlraiTV, Al Salam Media Group, Arpu Plus, Ary Digital, AstanaTV, AzamTV, DM Don Square Entertainment, MBC, Media Twist, NE Media Syndication, Digital Virgo, Hadif.TV, Huawei Video, OSN, Sharjah Broadcasting Authority, StarzPlay, Viu, Al-Majd Network, Tunisia, Anuvu, Arab Media Network, Arsharq News, Bahrain TV, BaynounahTV, My5, BizTV, Mulsim Content Distribution, MTV, Merzigo, Rabee Alhajabed, Roya Media Group.
FAST model is travelling to MENA
I would not say that Free Ad-supported Streaming TV ( FAST) was everywhere, like at MIPCOM last month.
But 2 Tech providers were attending the event: OTTera and SoFAST.
Their objectives?
Convince local and international rights holders to create their own channels
Support MENA-based streaming services to leverage this new business model
Next year, the market will probably be very different: homegrown services will be aggregating hundreds of FAST channels, international FAST platforms will be entering the market, and all the other Tech providers will be investing time and resources to be part of the growing MENA ecosystem.
What to expect in 2023?
Big news! DICM should move to a new premium location to welcome more exhibitors and media professionals.
If you can’t wait until next year, DICM already announced 9 webinars starting on February:
15 February: Best of Drama series
15 March: Focus on Formats
19 April: Spotlight on Korean content
17 May: Buying habits in MENA
21 June: Best of Ramadan
19 July: Best of SEA content
16 August: The art of storytelling
20 September: Kids content on demand
4 October: DICM 2023 - What to expect?
See you in Dubai in 2023!
That’s all for today, an overview of what happened during DICM 2022.
See you online next week. Until then, enjoy Chainsaw Man on Crunchyroll.
Whenever you’re ready, there are 2 ways I can help you with:
If you want to learn more about streaming in MENA, I’d recommend starting with my market report:
→ The Streaming Ecosystem in MENA: Learn everything about the local streaming services in the region. Get full access here.
Work with me 1:1 to diversify your streaming revenues in MENA (FAST channels business, CTV Advertising, Content distribution, Content acquisition, Market analysis, Business representation, etc.)