MBC GROUP, the largest and leading media company in the Middle East & North Africa (MENA), announces its performance results for Ramadan 2021, with both satellite TV and online streaming ranking high amongst viewers.

Shahid VIP – MBC GROUP’s SVoD offering and the world’s leading Arabic streaming platform – continues to see steady growth, reaching a total of two million subscribers by the end of Ramadan 2021. This marks a 43% year-on-year increase (1.4 million in Ramadan 2020).

In an exclusive interview with Variety, MBC GROUP CEO Sam Barnett offered more information on the key Ramadan subscription drivers for Shahid VIP. Read the full interview here.

Meanwhile, despite challenging market conditions across the world due to the pandemic, MBC GROUP's TV programming has continued to dominate viewership in Saudi Arabia this Ramadan – securing a 51% share of total viewership. MBC GROUP’s programs accounted for nine out of the “10 Most-Watched Programs in KSA” this year, as per data released by Ipsos. The group also accounted for 15 programmes out of the overall top 20 (excluding sports content).

Ramadan also marked a successful month for MBC GROUP’s regional channels. According to research commissioned by the group, MBC MASR was the most-watched TV channel in Egypt this season, while MBC IRAQ also was its country’s most-watched TV channel.

Over at the Maghreb, MBC5 – MBC’s North African channel – was amongst Morocco’s top three most-watched TV channels and dominated other territories in the region as well.

On the digital front, the group’s programming and content have set a new all-time record – achieving social media video views of more than 8.8 billion during this Ramadan 2021 season. Logged between April 3 and May 12 this year, the total number of social media video views marks an increase of 32% compared to the same season last year. Furthermore, MBC GROUP continues to rank highly on Tubular Labs’ leaderboard for global media and entertainment entities (Broadcast, Cable, Radio, & Film). After first entering its Top 10 last year, it is currently in ninth place as per latest results.

Shahid VIP in numbers

Following its expansion of territories last year, making it available anywhere across the globe including in the United States and Canada, Shahid is now known as the world’s leading Arabic streaming platform.

MBC GROUP’s streaming offering continues to attract and grow audiences thanks to an increasingly diverse library of new and premium Arabic-language content, as well as international releases.

As mentioned above, Shahid VIP – which showcases uninterrupted and ad-free content – has now reached a total of two million subscribers.

And in terms of programming, Shahid VIP’s ten most-watched titles during Ramadan 2021 generated 2.1x more streams compared to last year’s ten most-watched titles – marking a 112% increase in plays.

Additionally, three titles this year performed better than last year’s number one title.

Further investment in premium content, including series and films

Looking ahead, MBC GROUP’s short-term plans involve continuing to invest in producing more premium content, including series, films, and other programming.

A number of exclusive titles are currently in production by MBC STUDIOS, with programming being shot and prepared in Saudi Arabia, as well as Egypt, the UAE, Lebanon, and others. These titles will be included under Shahid Originals and Shahid Premieres, and will be showcased across MBC’s network.