CONTENT CONSUMPTION INCREASED DURING RAMADAN 2023

DICM and E-Ramadan Content Market Releases Ramadan Report

CONTENT CONSUMPTION INCREASED DURING RAMADAN 2023

TV viewership during Ramadan tends to increase significantly from 3 hours and a half before Ramadan to almost 5 hours per day.

Ramadan and television have traditionally been a match as families gather around their living room TV to enjoy and share special moments from dawn to dusk. In the MENA region, there has historically been a significant increase in media consumption during the month of Ramadan partly because many popular television shows and dramas are broadcasted during this time.

Ramadan Series – Trends and Top Stories

More than 50% of yearly acquisition budgets are spent on Ramadan grids as broadcasters and platforms scramble to gain a competitive advantage in grabbing what’s left of TV ads spent in the region.

Arab viewers are proving to be less interested in slow-paced and longer-running shows catered for the region

This Ramadan season, 1001, the emerging Video on Demand (VOD) platform, made a significant mark in the world of digital entertainment by recording a remarkable 1.18 million hours of viewing since its launch just prior to Ramadan.

Three unique shows — “Iktiham” (Break In), “Majnoon Sara” (Crazy About Sarah), and “Muhtawa Khabet” (Cloudy Content) — drove this successful viewership, striking a chord with audiences during the holy month.

William Page, Chief Strategy Officer of 1001, stated: “Reaching 1.18 million hours viewed during Ramadan after having only just launched is a significant achievement that speaks volumes about our commitment to resonate with our viewers’ experiences and emotions during this sacred time. Our programming during Ramadan was specifically curated to mirror the values of empathy, unity, and reflection that are amplified during this Holy Month. This success fuels our dedication to create and deliver culturally relevant, high-quality content that truly connects with our viewers.”

8 in 10 people use SVOD during Ramadan

Commenting on the success stories for Ramadan this year, Rabee Alhajabed, Owner and General Manager at Rabee Alhajabed Art Production & Distribution FZE, mentioned: “It was a pleasure for us this year to distribute first-run Ramadan series from the MENA region, such as “Zoqaq Al Jinn,” a Syrian series sold to Palestine Broadcasting Authority, and “April Fool’s,” a Kuwaiti series sold to Shofha platform based in Cairo and Dubai, along with other Arabic and Western documentaries and animated content.”

On the same note, Beirut based production powerhouse Cedars Art Productions had one of its best Ramadan runs ever with eight new series that all scored stellar ratings during the region’s peak TV season across the Arab world.

Jordan’s Roya TV launched 16 FAST channels, including Roya TV, Roya Drama, Roya Comedy, Roya Kids and a pop-up channel for Ramadan.

“Year after year, Roya Media Group continues its series of accomplishments, through its various platforms and services that it provides to its audience making its way into every home in Jordan and the Arab World,” said Zeina Eltal, Group Corporate Communications and Business Development Manager at Roya Media Group.

One of the companies under the umbrella of Roya Media Group is The Show Services, which achieved great success during the 2023 Ramadan season. Among the productions that were distributed to the Arab world was Jalta ‘Kebrat Al-Eileh’ series, which was distributed to Al-Arabi 2 TV, Qatar TV, and Watch IT platform.

Zeina added: “We are happy to announce that Jalta ‘Kebrat Al-Eileh’ won the best Jordanian TV series during Ramadan 2023, according to a poll conducted by ET Bel Arabi.”

SVOD platforms have gained significant traction and according to Ipsos, 8 in 10 people used this platform during Ramadan, with Shahid VIP and Netflix being the top used platforms. Arabic series take the lead when it comes to the most watched type of programming.

Along with widened distribution and added viewership, streaming platforms and competitive programming are pushing producers to offer increasingly modern storylines and series shorter than a month’s worth of 30 episodes. Especially during the COVID-19 pandemic, Ramadan TV has offered a window on places viewers couldn’t travel to with added cultural insights and experiences.

During Ramadan, people mainly consume sports and documentaries on video streaming platforms, but as we can see below, subscribers were bingeing other genres as well:

31% Sports
31% Documentaries
29% Religious Content
27% Arabic Series
27% International TV Series
24% Entertainment
24% Western Movies

During the Holy Month, research shows that television viewership increases by up to 80% in many regions worldwide, which is also evident with the yearly increasing number of buyers participating in the Dubai International Content Market (DICM) and E-Ramadan Content Market. During this time, Muslim-focused channels traditionally launch new programmes and series highly anticipated by viewers and designed to bring families together. E-Ramadan Content Market, an online event created by DICM, is aimed at fulfilling this high demand as it provides an opportunity to browse through and view the latest titles especially tailored for Ramadan and exemplifying its rich values.

While satellite channels have delivered programs like these to millions of Arabic speakers for decades, streaming platforms are on the rise. This is why the Dubai International Content Market, E-Ramadan Content Market, and the Content Market Webinars by DICM offers global and regional media and entertainment companies the opportunity to expand their business, showcase new content and services, meet with key buyers and end-users, develop partnerships, and increase visibility and sales within the Middle East, Africa, and beyond.

For more insight into Ramadan content, tune in on June 21, 2023, to the “Best of Ramadan 2023” live webinar run by the Content Market Webinars by DICM where key players from the industry will discuss the trends and, in addition to presenting and showcasing their exclusive content.

For more details, contact:

Irina Deaconu
Marketing and Communication Manager
Tel: +971 4 520 8888
Email: irina.deaconu@index.ae