(MENAFN- Khaleej Times) Bollywood left out but osn confident of appeal david butorac and emad morcos at osn launch ‘go by osn’ in dubai on sunday. — supplied photo
pay-tv network osn on sunday launched its premium online tv platform ‘go by osn’ mainly targeting youth with mobile devices.
for only $10 per month (dh37 in the uae) subscribers can enjoy thousands of hours of premium entertainment including hollywood blockbusters critically-acclaimed arabic productions award-winning tv series and popular kids content contract and commitment-free in just a few clicks. customers can register two devices with each ‘go subscription’ at the moment but it will be five by july the company says. the new service complements its existing ‘osn play’ platform which is available only to existing satellite-tv subscribers. the key difference is that ‘go’ doesn’t require a contract.
‘go by osn’ is compatible with all internet providers and is available on fixed wi-fi 3g and 4g mobile broadband across 22 countries in the mena region. the service is currently available on pcs macs smartphones and tablets and will soon be launched on smart tvs and gaming consoles the company says.
unfortunately the new platform does not have any content from bollywood despite the fact that a large proportion of the population in the uae loves bollywood movies. “it’s under consideration but not very soon. we will continue to expand the content” chief executive david butorac replied to khaleej times without giving any timeframe.
“we are trying to balance 50:50 between arabic and english content and at the moment there are 300 english titles and 250 arabic titles” the chief executive explained. ‘go by osn’ subscribers will have access to thousands of hours of licensed content including movie catalogues from top hollywood studios such as disney dreamworks animation paramount and sony.
with internet penetration of more than 40 per cent in the region alongside mobile phone internet user penetration at an average of 54 per cent butorac is confident ‘go by osn’ will strongly appeal to the fast growing internet generation.
“with internet users across the region expected to reach over 400 million by 2015 and with over 200 million people in the region currently below the age of 25 the potential for online tv streaming is tremendous. with ‘go’ we are creating a new entertainment choice for those who traditionally have been depending on online video channels for content that is often illegitimate or low quality.”
in saudi arabia and the uae alone smartphone penetration is at 79 per cent and 72 per cent respectively while mobile internet access through smartphones stands at 84 per cent and 83 per cent.
emad morcos svp – business development and digital at osn added: “there is no other service in the market that has multiple hollywood studio deals which enables ‘go’ to play host to the most critically-acclaimed and diversified western and arabic content. this coupled with our strong line-up of arabic productions and movies makes ‘go’ an irresistible product.”
osn chief executive officer david butorac indicated that the company had no current plans for an initial public offering.
the firm generates about $700 million in revenues from its operations across mena region. “we’re generating significant free cash and so there are no current funding needs for the company” butorac told reporters after ‘go by osn’ launch.
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