Netflix faces lose its market leadership in the Middle East to Shahid VIP, according to Digital TV Research.
The hitherto dominant streamer is facing a competition both from local and international entrants.
Simon Murray, Principal Analyst at Digital TV Research, said: “As some of the US-based platforms lower their global rollout and local content commitments, the Arabic players will thrive.”
There will be 26 million SVOD subscriptions across 13 Arabic countries by 2029, up from 14 million in 2023. Netflix will lose its market leadership to Shahid VIP. Netflix had 3.8 million subscribers by end-2023, followed by Shahid VIP (3.5 million) and StarzPlay (3.0 million).
Shahid is run by the Saudi state-owned MBC Group. The platform was launched in 2008 by MBC and rebranded in 2020.
