Summary

In UAE the market is dominated by a few large international companies, including Netflix, Amazon Prime Video, and Disney+ Hotstar, as well as local players such as Starz Play and Icflix. The platforms offer a mix of licensed content, original productions, and user-generated content. There is a strong demand for local and regional content in the UAE, and the platforms are investing in producing and licensing high-quality Middle Eastern content. The primary revenue sources for OTT platforms in the UAE include subscription fees, advertising, and e-commerce. The UAE government regulates the OTT market, but the regulations are generally favorable to the industry's growth. The UAE OTT market is expected to continue growing in the future, driven by increasing internet penetration and a growing middle class with high disposable income. The demand for high-quality, local and regional content is also expected to increase, providing new opportunities for OTT platforms.

According to the research report, "UAE over the Top (OTT) Market Overview, 2028," published by Bonafide Research, the market is anticipated to add USD 0.69 Billion by the end of 2028. Due to the increase in the number of digital video consumers, media and entertainment dominated over-the-top market share during the forecast period. This will increase demand for OTT services in the media and entertainment industry. However, the communication industry is expected to grow at the fastest rate during the forecast period due to an increase in demand for over-the-top services in the telecommunications industry for video calling, voice, and messaging services. By Device type, SmartTVs and set-top boxes dominated the market share. Furthermore, as smartphone penetration increased, smartphones became the second most popular device for streaming OTT platforms. They are also inexpensive, allowing people of all income levels to use smartphones and streaming platforms. During the forecasted period, subscription VOD is expected to manage the market. This is primarily due to an increase in the number of subscribers using over-the-top (OTT) platforms. Furthermore, due to the high demand for advertising videos for product and service promotion, advertisement-based VOD is steadily increasing. The market is divided into personal and commercial user types. The market is expected to be driven by the personal user segment. The growing use of smartphones and tablets, as well as easily accessible internet, raises the market's perception of OTT services for personal entertainment and knowledge.

The United Arab Emirates’s total population was 10.04 million in January 2022.In January 2022, United Arab Emirates had more than 10 million internet users. At the beginning of 2022, the internet penetration rate in the United Arab Emirates was greater than 99 percent of the total population. Around 100 thousand people in the UAE did not use the internet at the start of 2022, indicating that approximately 1% of the population was offline at the start of the year. In January 2022, the United Arab Emirates had over 10 million social media users. According to Meta's advertising resources, Facebook had approximately 7.20 million users in the United Arab Emirates in early 2022. According to Google's advertising resources, YouTube had more than 9 million users in the United Arab Emirates in early 2022.According to Meta's advertising tools; Instagram had approximately 5.25 million users in the United Arab Emirates in early 2022. According to ByteDance's advertising resources, TikTok had approximately 6.72 million users aged 18 and up in the United Arab Emirates in early 2022. According to Meta's advertising resources, ads on Facebook Messenger reached approximately 4.85 million users in the United Arab Emirates in early 2022. According to LinkedIn's advertising resources, the United Arab Emirates had approximately 5.70 million "members" in early 2022. According to Snap's advertising resources, Snapchat had approximately 3.25 million users in the United Arab Emirates in early 2022. According to Twitter's advertising resources, the United Arab Emirates had approximately 2.45 million users in early 2022.

In UAE, more than 50% of people watch music videos. Around 45% of people watch a comedy, meme, or viral video. Around 30% of people watch video livestreams. More than 30% of people watch educational videos. Around 30% of people watch sports highlights or clips. Around 25% of people watch Gaming Videos. More than a quarter of all people watch Influencer videos and vlogs. By age group (16–64), the average amount of time that UAE users spend each day includes 8 hours on the internet, more than 3 hours on television, around 3 hours for social media, and more than 1 hour listening to music streaming services. In UAE OTT market, some of the major reason for the higher utilization of internet by the age group of 16-64 includes finding information, researching how to do things, finding new ideas and inspiration, staying in touch with friends and family, researching brands, education and study, watching videos, TV shows and movies, listening to music, researching health issues and products, researching places, travel, business networking and many more.

Considered in this report
• Geography: UAE
• Historic year: 2017
• Base year: 2022
• Estimated year: 2023
• Forecast year: 2028

Aspects covered in this report
• UAE Over The Top (OTT) market with its value and forecast along with its segments
• Various drivers and challenges
• On-going trends and developments
• Top profiled companies
• Strategic recommendation

By Type:
• AVOD (Advertising-based Video On Demand)
• SVOD (Subscription Video on Demand)
• TVOD (Transactional Video on Demand)
• Others

By Device Type:
• Smartphones and Tablets
• Desktops and Laptops
• Smart TVs & Set-Top Box
• Gaming Consoles & Streaming Devices

By Content Type:
• Video Streaming
• Game Streaming
• Audio Streaming
• Communication

By Service Verticals:
• Media and Entertainment
• Education and Learning
• Gaming
• Service Utilities

By User Type:
• Personal
• Commercial

By Component Type:
• Solution
• Services

The approach of the report:
This report consists of a combined approach of primary as well as secondary research. Initially, secondary research was used to get an understanding of the market and list out the companies that are present in the market. The secondary research consists of third-party sources such as press releases, and annual reports of companies, analyzing the government-generated reports and databases. After gathering the data from secondary sources primary research was conducted by making telephonic interviews with the leading players about how the market is functioning and then conducting trade calls with dealers and distributors of the market. Post this we have started doing primary calls to consumers by equally segmenting consumers into regional aspects, tier aspects, age groups, and gender. Once we have primary data with us we started verifying the details obtained from secondary sources.

Intended audience
This report can be useful to industry consultants, manufacturers, suppliers, associations & organizations related to the Over The Top (OTT) industry, government bodies, and other stakeholders to align their market-centric strategies. In addition to marketing & presentations, it will also increase competitive knowledge about the industry.