Influential decision-makers from major studios, production houses and on-demand providers will discuss the future of TV viewing across the Middle East and North Africa (Mena) region at Cabsat 2016.

 

The leading platform for the broadcast, production, content delivery, digital media and satellite sectors across the Middle East, Africa and Sourth Asia (Measa), which will take place on March 8 and 9 at the Dubai World Trade Centre (DWTC), will feature the all-new Content Congress, a dissection presented by Cabsat, NAB Show and the former's new Content Marketplace offering.

 

It will include Dreamworks, Sony Pictures, Netflix, Fox International, NBC Universal, Australia’s FremantleMedia, ITV studios, Talpa, Dailymotion, Qatar’s beIN network, the European Broadcasting Union and a host of other major Hollywood and Bollywood studios, worldwide production houses, IPTV and direct broadcast satellite providers, ad agencies, on-demand and OTT providers, and cloud-based TV network broadcasters.

 

With growing connectivity across the Mena region reshaping consumers’ viewing habits, an idle traditional TV advertising market and abundant alternative revenue streams in digital advertising and pay TV services, the Content Congress will host 16 sessions featuring more than 40 renowned voices from regional and global media houses.

 

The gathering will debate disruptive technologies, the transition to digital broadcasting and monetising multi-platform services in a Mena media market where entertainment and media spend is expected to reach $66 billion by 2018 according to forecasts by the global analyst division of Pricewaterhouse Coopers, Strategy&.

 

Trixie LohMirmand, senior vice president, Exhibitions and Events Management, DWTC, said: “TV has evolved and with greater mobility through the increased use of connected devices and viewers increasingly exploring optimised content delivery platforms, the Mena region’s filmed and audio entertainment market is undergoing transformational change.

 

“Cabsat is staying ahead of that transformation by providing a platform where international game-changers and regional start-ups explore the disruptive, immersive technologies that are creating the next generation of multi-screen viewing experiences.”

 

Under a primary theme of ‘The Future of Television in a Connected World,’ the Content Congress presented by Cabsat, Content Marketplace and NAB Show will be opened by Eric Ellenbogen, co-head of Dreamworks Studios, delivering a session on how OTT platforms will change traditional broadcasting over the next 10 years.

 

"I'm excited to be a first-time participant at Cabsat and look forward to sharing updates on behalf of DreamWorks Animation - the newest global player in the family entertainment ‘TV everywhere’ space - with the region’s leading media industry names and entities,” said Ellenbogen. 

 

“With the anticipated spend of emerging regional streaming services added to the expected US$7 billion-plus programming spends by Hulu, Amazon and Netflix alone in 2016, the Content Congress will dissect the future of a forever altered TV ecosystem,” he said.

 

All Content Congress attendees will also receive exclusive state-of-the-industry reports worth $3,495 on ‘Disruptive Technologies and Business Models in the Mena Media & Entertainment Market’ prepared by Frost & Sullivan, the knowledge partner for Cabsat 2016. - TradeArabia News Service