PRONEWS
Ninetnine launches 10 premium linear Arabic channels on Sling TV in the US Ninetnine, a content provider to cable and OTT platforms, has launched 10 premium linear North African channels in the US on Dish Network’s OTT service, Sling TV. The channels, which will be available free to households across the US as part of an AVOD business model, include Nessma TV, Samira TV, Lina TV, 2M Monde and Al Aoula. This is Ninetnine’s first step into the US content distribution market. Ninetnine co-founders Samir Zehani and Adel Hamla said: “We know exactly what North Africans living abroad want to watch. We’ve already generated pay-TV revenues for some of these TV channels in France via our pay-TV service Le Bouquet Maghreb. The focus now is
With US AVOD revenues predicted to triple between 2020 and 2026 to $31bn, Dish TV hopes to enjoy a bigger share in the US market with its content strategy.
conquering new territories. Sling TV was the best fit for our requirements, and we are excited for the launch.” Tarak Ben Ammar, an international film producer and investor in Nessma TV, added: “Our partnership with Ninetnine has been paramount in our
international expansion. Their expertise in taking our content to new audiences is valuable, and now we are glad to explore the opportunities of AVOD with one of the best platforms in the US.” Ninetnine and Dish Network decided to launch the channels free-to-air
Hariharan takes over from Anurag Agrawal as MD of Canon Middle East
Hariharan has been working with Canon ME for the last 15 years.
Venkatasubramanian (Subbu) Hariharan took over as Managing Director of Canon Middle East and Turkey (CMET) last month
from Anurag Agrawal, who has retired and moved back to Canada. In his new role, Hariharan will oversee the immediate post-pandemic transition, business recovery plans and Canon Turkey integration, as well as focus on longterm goals of geographical expansion into key markets, driving the customer and people-focused agenda, product diversification and strengthened digital transformation.
based on the uptake of AVOD services across the US over the past year. A recent Global AVOD Forecasts 2021 report stated that the US has the most developed OTT sector in the world and the most developed advertising market. It also said: “US AVOD revenues will triple between 2020 and 2026 to $31bn. Rather than lose market share as other countries catch up, the US will grow its share of the global total from 37% in 2020 to 47% by 2026.” To meet the demands of this audience, Dish Networks, which launched the Sling TV service in 2015, has recently launched a new beta app which includes a powerful personalisation engine to make content discovery more intuitive and engaging.
BeIN Sports secures several MENA broadcast rights deals BeIN has signed a new agreement with Bundesliga Worldwide, extending its broadcast rights to Bundesliga matches in France, held since 2012, up to 2025. The two parties have also signed a new deal that gives it rights to broadcast the games in Turkey. The exclusive agreements grant beIN rights to all Bundesliga and 2. Bundesliga matches in the two countries. In other news,
BeIN Sports secured exclusive broadcast rights to this year’s Concacaf Gold Cup 2021 in 24 countries. The matches were aired in France, Turkey, MENA and APAC (excluding Australia and Indonesia). It also broadcast the 2021 Wimbledon Championship live and exclusively across MENA on dedicated channels in three languages – English, Arabic and French.
July-August 2021 | www.broadcastprome.com | 5
