iWorld
Online video to take lion’s share of video biz revenue in the Gulf by 2025: MPA
KOLKATA: As more people shift to alternative entertainment options, online video business is going to surpass pay-TV in next five-ten years worldwide. A report by Media Partners Asia (MPA) has projected that online video will account for the lion’s share of total video industry revenue by 2025, with both pay-TV and free TV in six Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries. Within the region, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) will continue to contribute over 70 per cent pay-TV and online video revenues in aggregate by 2025.
According to MPA, the GCC video industry – comprising free TV, pay-TV and online video – will generate revenues of $1.6 billion in 2020, representing a 13 per cent year-on-year contraction with deep declines in TV advertising and subscription, only partially offset by the significant growth of online video. Covid2019 related macro issues have exacerbated headwinds across the TV sector. A rebound is expected in 2022 but the TV industry will face difficulties in the long term. Overall, GCC video industry revenues are forecast by MPA to increase to $2 billion by 2025, a CAGR of 5 per cent from 2020.
MPA vice president Aravind Venugopal said: “The GCC’s vibrant and highly competitive video ecosystem has seen some significant changes in the past few years. Online video services continue to grow, driven by: low-cost pricing; telco partnerships, including hard bundles; and the availability of premium local and global content online, including increased investment into exclusive originals.”
Even with telco partnerships, which help to broaden the customer funnel, the longer-term success of OTT platforms will rest on their ability to retain customers, manage subscriber acquisition costs (SAC) and increase lifetime value (LTV).
“Over the next five years, the focus will move to the acquisition of high LTV subscribers via D2C. Market consolidation is also likely as the GCC region will be unable to support 15+ platforms with many competing in the same customer segments. New entrants into the market such as Disney+ Hotstar and HBO Max, could provide further impetus to industry growth, competitive intensity and consolidation,” he added.
Venugopal also noted that the slow pace of innovation by pay-TV operators combined with high prices of subscription based video services, and the proliferation of broadband have contributed to the decline of pay-TV. IPTV has maintained subscriber growth, driven primarily by hard bundled triple-play services. However, as telcos re-examine their cost structures and investments in content and platforms, there remains an impending threat of the breaking of the hard bundle, which could further endanger pay-TV, he surmised.
The report further states that within the GCC online video sector, three business models have emerged in recent years: freemium operators, led by MBC-owned Shahid, PCCW-owned Viu and Zee’s Weyyak; SVoD operators, led by Netflix, Amazon Prime Video, STARZPLAY, Jawwy TV, Watch iT and OSN Streaming; and AVoD operators, including YouTube and TikTok.
Given the diverse demographics and large expat population in the region, several services targeted at specific language/ethnic groups have also launched in recent years. These include the Indian and South Asian segment, which are key audiences for Zee5, SonyLIV, Eros Now and YuppTV. As platforms seek to further expand their customer base and drive consumption, investment in Arabic originals has become a key battleground. While the Covid2019 pandemic and the economic-political crises in the region have impacted production activities, MPA has forecast that productions will return to normalcy by Q1 2021 as economies recover.
In the telecoms sector, fixed broadband has been relatively insulated from economic woes given its utility-status in UAE and low penetration in KSA. However, mobile services, particularly prepaid, have experienced subscriber declines. The UAE and Qatar leads the region, both in terms of fibre connectivity and penetration with over 90 per cent of homes having access to fixed wired services via fibre. From a mobile perspective, the GCC is well connected, with a highly competitive environment (ex-UAE) keeping retail prices relatively affordable. Data consumption remains fairly high, driven primarily by video services. There remains further scope for growth, especially in markets with low fixed broadband penetration.
iWorld
What SMS letters G, T, S and P mean and how they help spot scams
Small alphabet tags on messages reveal whether texts are government or ads.
MUMBAI: Sometimes the smallest letter in a message can be the biggest clue. In an age where smartphone users receive dozens of alerts every day, the tiny alphabet appearing at the end of many SMS messages can reveal whether a text is official, transactional, service related or simply promotional. Understanding these tags can help users quickly identify legitimate messages and stay alert to potential scams.
Under telecom regulations in India, SMS senders are required to categorise messages based on their purpose. As a result, many texts end with a single letter that indicates the type of communication being sent.
If an SMS ends with the letter G, it typically means the message has been sent by a government authority. These alerts may include information about public services, government schemes, safety advisories or emergency notifications such as natural disaster warnings.
A message ending with the letter T signals a transactional SMS. These are usually sent by banks, financial institutions or digital services to confirm activities such as payments, account updates or one time passwords (OTPs).
The letter S represents a service related message. These notifications commonly come from companies and online platforms providing updates about services or orders. For instance, e commerce platforms like Amazon or Flipkart often send delivery updates and order confirmations that end with the letter S.
Meanwhile, SMS messages ending with the letter P are promotional in nature. These texts are typically marketing communications sent by businesses advertising products, offers or services such as education programmes, fashion sales or loan schemes.
Understanding these simple tags can also help users stay cautious about fraudulent messages. Cybersecurity experts note that scam messages often do not follow these regulated formats and may arrive without any category letter at the end.
While the absence of a tag does not automatically mean a message is fraudulent, it can serve as an early warning sign encouraging users to verify the source before clicking links or sharing personal information.
For those who wish to reduce marketing texts altogether, telecom operators also provide Do Not Disturb (DND) options.
Users of Jio can activate DND through the MyJio app by navigating to the menu, selecting settings and enabling the DND option with preferred filters.
Similarly, subscribers of Airtel and Vi can enable the same feature through their respective mobile apps to block promotional messages.
In a digital world flooded with alerts and notifications, recognising what a single letter means could make the difference between a harmless update and a potential scam.
