Redefining Viewer Engagement: stc group’s subsidiary “intigral” continues to champion innovation in MENA’s digital entertainment
The thriving digital entertainment market in the MENA region is a playground where innovation and immersive experiences converge. Fueled by the emergence of OTT and digital media companies, MENA’s promising media and entertainment landscape is expected to continue to grow at a Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) of +9.4% over the next five years.
In the region’s burgeoning OTT industry, humming with scores of streamable titles every month, innovative streaming platforms are bringing more viewer-specific and tailored offerings that curate and deliver comprehensive, multi-sourced content to viewers, promising seamless, enriching experiences. stc group’s subsidiary “intigral”, the Saudi-based digital entertainment platform provider, is blazing a trail in creating next-generation digital entertainment experiences throughout the region. With a rich legacy of over 14 years of building cutting-edge digital platforms tailored for MENA audiences, “intigral” has emerged as a strong contender in the market.
Customer-centric OTT model
Next-gen technologies are transforming the OTT streaming industry and changing how people consume content. Through award-winning streaming platform stc tv, Intigral adopts a commercial strategy rooted in a customer-centric culture. The company aims to transform the viewer journey by anticipating viewership trends, tracking challenges and addressing gaps.
Using data analytics to gain profound insights into consumer pain points, viewing habits, and expectations, Intigral identified the oversupply of OTT providers as a key pain point that resulted in subscription fatigue and higher churn. To address this issue, the company adopted a vMVPD (Master Aggregation) business model to gather and curate diverse content from leading global and regional providers on one platform that addresses subscription overload in the MENA region.
Pooling content from multiple broadcasters, production houses, and rights owners into a single platform, Intigral offers viewers more variety, combining their preferred movies and series under one library and tailoring selections to viewer preferences. With single sign-on and billing, subscribers can enjoy a curated experience away from the complexities of managing multiple subscriptions and navigating fragmented content libraries.
Tech-enhanced user experience
Developing industry-defining streaming experiences and scaling existing solutions, are at the heart of reshaping the OTT streaming landscape. Through cloud-based technology, “intigral” delivers the best streaming quality in HD and 4K resolutions and enhances user-friendly interfaces with features that evolve with viewers’ needs. Data-powered analytics are used to monitor viewer patterns and gain actionable insights.
“intigral” platforms received high ratings across various categories, including content variety, exclusivity, VoD volume, Live Streaming, and interface features, with an overall brand satisfaction rate of 89%. Intigral was named the "Fastest Growing Digital Entertainment Solutions Brand” in MENA in 2023, further highlighting their strategy of reshaping the industry and delivering quality entertainment experiences for viewers.
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Versatile solutions for an expanding market
“intigral” caters to customers along with telecoms business partners through a comprehensive suite of services that bring substantial value to each segment. stc tv delivers a premium aggregated streaming service to customers who can enjoy hassle-free access to the extensive content library on their devices anytime and anywhere.
In the business segment, Intigral offers OTT operation and management services to telco or ISP partners in MENA markets. This flexible model has enabled Jawwy TV’s bundling with 14 regional telcos and ISPs to reach more viewers in key regional markets including Egypt, Jordan, Morocco,Tunisia, and many others.
“intigral” is leveraging its robust technical capabilities and expertise in building digital platforms, to empower telcos to enhance their revenue streams by establishing their own OTT services and delivering a branded and customized streaming service, with the flexibility and scalability needed.
These offerings create a mutually beneficial network for Intigral and its business partners, expanding the brand’s reach to more audiences and unlocking telcos’ revenue potential in the dynamic digital ecosystem.
Content from 30-plus partner networks
“intigral” pursues collaborations in the field of content provision and distribution. To enrich their content bank, the company collaborates with over 30 strategic partnerships with regional and international networks, including STARZPLAY, discovery+, WideKhaliji, Cartoon Network and many others, resulting in a library of over 28,000 titles and 200 live channels. Intigral platforms stream diverse content and offer viewers a mixed content library that brings all the best of entertainment for all ages in one place.
While collecting content from global networks, the Intigral content strategy also focuses on providing Arabic content that resonates with the culture in the region and empowers local talent and productions.
Championing Saudi digital entertainment
Saudi Arabia is home to a broad base of sophisticated media consumers. With a user penetration rate already reaching 41.8 percent in 2023, the Kingdom is emerging as the largest and fastest-growing media market in the region, registering a 20% growth in OTT subscribers between 2021 and 2022. Intigral is dedicated to enriching the Kingdom’s digital media sector with its home-grown OTT platform stc tv, bringing global entertainment to viewers’ fingertips.
Propelled by this drive, Intigral is committed to the overarching goals of Saudi Vision 2030 by collaborating on more initiatives with local content providers to promote the Kingdom’s natural wealth and rich culture through the stc tv platform, empowering Saudi talents, and providing its viewers with more entertainment choices across various domains.
With a focus on creating value for viewers in MENA by building differentiated and scalable platforms adaptable to the consistently evolving user preferences, Intigral continues to grow its viewer base despite the competition from global and regional media incumbents and new entrants.
“intigral” set its 2024 goals around delivering a more advanced OTT model across all its platforms, focusing on refining the user experience and onboarding global/regional OTT partners backed by more innovation and increased content diversity. This involves enhancing the technology behind the platforms building on AI tools and integrating more features that offer viewers more flexibility, choice, and control of their viewing experience. The fusion of cutting-edge technology, user-centric features, and enriched content underscores the company’s promise to anticipate and meet the dynamic expectations of viewers, setting a paradigm for the evolving landscape of OTT platforms in the region.