MBC Group has announced unprecedented growth levels in “time spent on TV”, across all of its TV channels and VOD following the launch of a #stayathome initiative, which included free 30-day access to Shahid’s VIP package and the addition of several new programmes during prime time.
According to the graph, MBC1’s prime-time from 19:00 to 20:59 saw audiences increase from 22% to 59% in the period between March 22-28 as compared to March 1-7. Total time spent on MBC Group’s channels reportedly rose to 22% in the same period. In KSA alone, MBC claims its viewership went up to 44% from 00:00 to 06:00.
MBC Group’s OTT platform Shahid reportedly saw an increase in users as well as “time spent” in the MENA region from March 22-28. Shahid VIP users increased by 2.5 times in KSA as of March 25. Live streaming of MBC channels on Shahid VIP increased in KSA and saw over two times increase in users in the said time period.
When asked for an opinion about these figures, Nick Grande, Managing Director of ChannelSculptor, a Dubai-based TV consultancy and service provider told BroadcastPro ME: “These numbers are reflective of a global industry trend. In the USA, Nielsen reported last week the number of TV viewing minutes had jumped 36%, from 115 minutes to 156 minutes within the space of four weeks. That was a continuation of last month’s trend, when Comscore recorded a jump of 39.8% in audience compared with February and also noted that the year-on-year audience increase was 73.4%. Similar increases have been reported in Europe and Asia. Here in MENA in March, WAVO reported that active users were up 30% in February.
“What’s interesting is that according to MBC’s research, they are also gaining significant TV audience share compared with their competitors (59% vs 22%) during prime time. It would be great to know which territories this 59% jump relates to, and in particular, whether it comes from return path monitoring of their set-top boxes or if it’s only based on telephone surveys.”
