Yango Play: The New All-In-One Entertainment Super App in Middle East
First look at the service, platform and video content strategy
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Today’s program
If you're based in the Middle East, it would have been hard not to notice the launch of Yango Play last week, the latest SVOD platform brought to you by Yandex. In this article, I'll share my initial thoughts on the service, with a particularly focus on its selection of movies and TV series.
What is the all-in-One Entertainment super App Yango Play?
Diving into Yango Play's video content strategy
First impressions from The Streaming Lab
And… Action!
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What is the all-in-one Entertainment super App Yango Play?
While we don’t have the Last Vegas sphere in Middle East, we do have the Riyadh sphere. Yango Play has made history as the first brand ever to take over it for content and advertising. Check it out HERE.
This, coupled with a mixed media campaign, significantly boosted the download numbers for both the iOS and Android Apps. As you can see below, Yango Play now ranks as the top Android App in the Entertainment category and is within the top 5 across all countries for iOS ↓
Let me share with you additional details about Yango Play, from both a service and platform perspective.
SERVICE
The service was launched recently in Saudi Arabia, UAE, Qatar, Oman, Bahrain, Kuwait, and Egypt, by the Russian multinational technology company Yandex. They had already launched Yango in the region end of last year, an ecosystem of tech services offering ride-hailing, delivery, and e-grocery.
Yango Play is an Entertainment Super App, mixing different types of content such as music, movies & series, mini-games, and soon, TV channels. Its streaming feature operates on an SVOD model, with the following monthly subscription costs:
Saudi Arabia: SAR 29.99
UAE: AED 29.99
Egypt: EGP 69.99
Qatar: QAR 29.99
Oman, Bahrain, and Kuwait: USD 7.99
All subscribers are entitled to a 60-day free trial.
PLATFORM
The service is currently accessible on smartphones (iOS & Android) and Smart TVs (AndroidTV, Samsung, LG). While there is a website, it serves only to introduce the service and provide a FAQ section.
The UI defaults to English on my iPhone, which I believe is based on my own settings. I can read on their FAQ that Yango Play also supports Arabic across different platforms. Additionally, the audio options for content include Arabic and English.
Users have the ability to create up to 4 individual profiles per account, and connect from as many as 20 devices. However, the platform restricts simultaneous streaming to a maximum of 5 devices per account.
Now, let's turn our attention to the content offered on Yango Play.
Diving into Yango Play's video content strategy
Upon opening the App, users can access 4 main tiles/sections: Music, Movies and Series, and Mini Games. Additionally, there's Yasmina, an AI-powered Arabic voice assistant. Today, my focus will be on the Movies & Series segment.
To provide a brief overview of the video content available on Yango Play, let's explore the carousels featured on the homepage:
Continue Watching, Recommended Series, Recommended Movies, New Releases, Top 10 Titles, You Wanted to watch, All STARZPLAY, Genres, Hit Series, Editor’s Choice, Family Time, Franchises, Drama, Family Friendly, Top Turkish Series, Tough-Provoking Tales, Movie Night, Global Hits, Heartfelt Moments, Action, Comedy, Made in Egypt, Sci-Fi, 2000s Rewind, Biographjy, Adrenaline Rush, Crime, Inspiring Stories, Romance, A Taste of the 90s, Suspense, Classics, Thrillers, Timeless Classics, Sweet 60s, A slice of Asia, Dreamy 70s, Fantasy.
At first glance, the content appears to be a diverse blend of Western/Hollywood, Arabic, Turkish, Asian, and Anime assets. The most represented genres include Romance, Drama, Comedy, Action, Thriller, Horror, Adventure, History, Crime, Music, Sci-Fi, Biography, Animation, and Fantasy.
A significant portion of Yango Play content offering appears to come from their super aggregation approach, with STARZPLAY being a major contributor, accounting for 8 out of the top 10 titles featured.
Here are some interesting titles Yango Play acquired so far:
Mr. Rex (Movie - 2023 - Egypt - Action/Comedy)
Awlad Harim Karim - The Children of Karim’sLadies ( Movie - 2023 - Egypt - Comedy)
Ana La Habeeby (Movie - 2023 - Romance - Egypt)
Taht El Wesaya (TV Series - 2023 - Drama - Egypt)
I'm confident we'll see some exciting surprises from Yango Play with exclusive series for Ramadan. I plan to analyze deeper Yango Play's content catalog next month, but only if it's of interest to my readers.
First impressions from The Streaming Lab
After my initial exploration of Yango Play, here are my first thoughts:
Is a super App a viable model in Middle East?
I'm not used to super Apps, particularly those that combine music, premium video, and games. It's challenging to predict whether users will subscribe to Yango Play only for music, videos, mini-games, or a combination of these. However, I believe that incorporating a gamification approach could significantly benefit the streaming usages. For instance, earning points by watching content that could then be used to build your virtual Yango City is an intriguing concept ↓
A Work-in-Progress content strategy
Exploring the content on Yango Play shows a mix of Western/Hollywood, Arabic, Turkish, and Asian offerings. This approach makes sense for the Middle East region. The content team has also localized their strategy to include premium Arabic movies and series, Egyptian comedy series, and classic Arabic films from the 60s and 70s. What they probably need to focus on is balancing the proportion of all this content.
The limits of a super App
The goal of a super App, aiming to offer a variety of content types, is clear. However, I anticipated a deeper movies & TV series section, perhaps with subpages or sections for TV series, movies, new releases, Arabic content, and so on. I found out about the genre filtering and access to new releases through the search bar, but it could include more categories.
Pricing strategy
With a monthly subscription slightly over $8, Yango Play is more affordable than the major local streaming services (Shahid, OSN+, and STARZPLAY). Considering it includes music and games, the price seems reasonable.
Acquisition vs aggregation
On one hand, super aggregation is a solid strategy to provide subscribers with a substantial volume of content at launch. On the other, I anticipated more collaboration beyond just STARZPLAY. It appears that at this point, 90% of the content is sourced from them. I'm optimistic that there's more to come over the coming weeks or months.
What’s next?
Teasing is an effective marketing tactic. What do you think is hidden behind this "coming soon" tile? Could we anticipate the introduction of FAST channels on Yango Play this year? Adopting a hybrid model could provide a significant advantage to the platform in the near future: broader audience reach.
That’s all for today, my first look at the new super media App Yango Play. If you enjoyed this breakdown, please consider sharing it with your friends and colleagues!
I hope everyone has a great week, see you online next Monday. Until then, enjoy the Franco Film festival starting this week! Cinema Akil will host the festival for seven days, from the 23rd to the 29th of February, before continuing for the first time at Sorbonne University Abu Dhabi from the 29th to the 3rd of March.
This edition will explore the theme of family, which is infinitely fascinating and complex and has inspired filmmakers since the beginning of time. The festival program will present ten feature films, including comedies, dramas, and animated features, in addition to short films.
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