Six months @ the Lab
Hey streamers 👋
Welcome to the 28th 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 celebrating the first 6 months of my newsletter: The Streaming Lab - MENA 🎂
27 articles in 27 weeks
My main learnings
TSL community
What’s next @ the Lab?
Enjoy the show!
27 articles in 27 weeks
The Streaming Lab - MENA is a weekly newsletter covering the OTT market in the Middle East & North Africa.
The 1st edition was a roadmap of all the OTT players that ever launched in the region.
And here are the 27 articles already available ↓
🌇 # 27 - Dubai International Content Market 2022 - What have you missed?
🏏 #26 - Local Sports on MENA-based OTT services
✨ #25 - Dubai Bling: the most successful TV show from MENA?
🆕 #24 - WATCH IT Standard with Ads: The 1st Ad-supported SVOD in MENA
⚽ #23 - StarzPlay Sports - Everything you need to know
🌴 #22 - MIPCOM Minutes - Cannes 2022
👋 #21 - Welcome to the Ad-supported world
🏖️ #20 - MIPCOM: Your gateway to MENA
📈 #19 - OTT & CTV Advertising in MENA
💯 #18 - 100 streaming stories in MENA
🤳 #17 - OTT services & Instagram in MENA
🦸♀️ #16 - Where to watch Anime on local MENA streaming services?
👀 #15 - What’s the most watched OTT content in Middle East?
❌ #14 - Why would you cancel Netflix?
👦 #13 - How Kids watch content in Middle East?
⚽ #12 - Is TOD a game-changing streaming service in MENA?
🚀 #11 - How to (successfully) localize an SVOD service in MENA
🏴☠️ #10 - Can we fight against OTT content piracy in Middle East?
🏰 #9 - Is Netflix shaping the OTT ecosystem in Middle East?
📦 #8 - Amazon Prime Video: quick look at the content in Middle East
🥇 #7 - Over The Top or At The Top?
✨ #6 - The Disney+ story in Middle East & North Africa
2️⃣ #5 - Niches are the new riches - Part II
1️⃣ #4 - Niches are the new riches - Part I
⚽ #3 - Is OTT Sports already “Live” in Middle East?
💰 #2 - What's an ideal SVOD monthly fee?
🔮 #1 - To understand the future, look at the past
Looking at my top 5 articles, can we say OTT Advertising is a trending topic in MENA?
OTT & CTV Advertising in MENA
Welcome to the Ad-supported world
Dubai Bling: the most successful TV show from MENA?
WATCH IT Standard with Ads: The 1st Ad-supported SVOD in MENA
MIPCOM Minutes - Cannes 2022
My main learnings
Starting a newsletter is not easy. Writing on a weekly basis for more than six months is even more challenging. Here are my five main learnings:
Consistency is key
I post every Monday, Wednesday and Friday on LinkedIn and I send my newsletter every Saturday.
My objective? Become a trusted source of information about streaming. Today in the MENA region. What about tomorrow?
Content is king
Quality is very important to me. I want to make sure I bring value to my subscribers, every week.
And I never lack inspiration: you can expect more reviews of local & international content events, news from the industry, analysis of streaming services, innovative OTT features, unique content strategies, etc.
MENA comes first
I could write about media in general or about more mature markets like the US or Europe. But I have decided to focus on a specific topic in a specific region: streaming in Middle East & North Africa.
That’s how I bring value: I support the regional streaming community and I help international service providers understand the market.
A data-driven newsletter
Thanks to Substack, the platform I use to write my newsletter, I can track a lot of key performance indicators: open rate, visits, likes, comments, shares, clicks, devices, etc.
Then, I can create or adjust my future articles based on what my readers are really looking for.
Online & IRL feedback
That’s what I love the most about this newsletter: meeting my readers in real life!
It’s also important to understand where do they come from, what brings value to them and why they keep reading it.
TSL community
The Streaming Lab MENA is not only a newsletter, but also a community of 500 media professionals from all over the world.
The 10 most represented countries are:
UAE
India
France
UK
Egypt
USA
Qatar
Turkey
Germany
Lebanon
A special thank you to my remote readers from Mexico, Mauritius and New Zealand!
It’s also good to know my top readers work for MENA-based OTT players.
The 10 most represented companies are:
Shahid
OSN
Zee5
StarzPlay
Disney
TOD
Prime Video
Shofha
Smashi
Jawwy TV
What’s next @ The Lab?
I’ll keep writing The Streaming Lab - MENA every Saturday and make sure to celebrate the first anniversary in six months!
I’ll keep writing for the existing 500 subscribers but also for the new readers signing up every day!
What articles can you expect?
Reviews of local & international streaming players
Minutes from content & tech events
Successful content strategies
Hybrid models & FAST
Any suggestions? Leave a comment below and decide what you want to read next.
The newsletter is just one piece of The Streaming Lab universe, a one-of-a-kind holding company, who’s mission is to grow and build streaming-based businesses.
Here are the main activities:
👨💼 Agency - We help streaming services monetize and accelerate growth.
🏗️ Studio - Our startup factory where we blueprint, prototype & incubate streaming-based product ideas.
🗞️ Newsletter - Subscribe to The Streaming Lab MENA, our weekly newsletter covering the OTT market in the Middle East & North Africa.
🌏 Market intelligence - A new way to follow the streaming war in the MENA region.
🥂 TSL Club - Join our private community of streamers, content creators and platform providers.
And more activities coming in 2023!
If you want to know more about The Streaming Lab universe, check the link below ↓
That’s all for today, what happened at the Streaming Lab - MENA in the past six months.
See you online next week. Until then, enjoy The Swimmers on Netflix: from war-torn Syria to the 2016 Rio Olympics, two young sisters embark on a risky voyage, putting their heart and their swimming skills to heroic use.
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.)