Netflix is moving into the Middle East, an area with a population estimated at 370 million and a young, highly wired demographic.
The subscription VOD company has posted job ads for marketing a and social media manager positions in the Middle East and ?Joris Evers, vice president and head of communications for Europe, Middle East and Africa at Netflix, has reportedly confirmed plans to expand in the region by the end of next year.
"We plan to complete our global expansion by the end of 2016. Of course the Middle East is part of that, hence our hiring," he told the IGN Middle East website. Evers did not immediately respond to an email requesting direct confirmation.
Currently Netflix can be viewed in some parts of the region, including the United Arab Emirates, but only with a Virtual Private Network, or VPN.
In April Starz beat Netflix to the punch launching its Starz Play Arabia OTT subscription service across 17 territories in the Middle East and North Africa, marking the first Starz-branded service outside the U.S.
The presence in parts of the Middle East of other OTTs such as IcFlix, Telly, and OSN Play indicate that the market is ripe and ready.
The two top subscription services in the MENA region are Starz Play and IcFlix. and Starz Play.
Icflix offers Hollywood, Bollywood, and also Arabic content, including original Egyptian productions. It reportedly has 250,000 customers across the Middle East and North Africa. Iciflix is available in Egypt, Morocco, Kuwait, United Arab Emirates, Tunisia and Saudi Arabia.
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