Culture & Education | Wednesday 20 February, 2019 3:00 am |

Watching TV is the Kingdom’s favourite weekend pastime, based on the “Daily Behavior in KSA” study by IPSOS.

 

According to OSN, the region’s leading entertainment network, TV is alive and kicking in Saudi Arabia, with households spending an average of eight hours a day watching TV (source: OSN data study 2018).

 

Peak TV viewership in KSA occurs during the hours of 6pm and 1am, and even on the weekend while ’surfing the internet’ was the most common activity, watching TV is a close second, with 62 per cent of respondents citing it as their pastime of choice.

 

To meet KSA’s increasing demand for quality content, flexibility and variety, OSN is officially launching ‘El Farq’, OSN’s latest and most flexible entertainment package yet, offering one great price, a rich diversity of channels and no annual contract.

 

The official launch of El Farq, meaning ‘The Difference’ in Arabic, follows an extensive research period and three-month testing phase carried out across the Kingdom, which recorded a positive response from customers and impressive sales growth.  

 

OSN also identified the factors which make Saudi consumers consider and purchase TV entertainment services. The top priority highlighted by respondents was ease of use (53 per cent), followed by value for money (49 per cent) and latest movies (42 per cent).

 

El Farq meets all these needs and more with its simple online purchasing process, attractive price and a channel selection that guarantees the latest movies, series, kids and lifestyle programming for all the family.

 

Bandar Al Mashhadi, Managing Director – Saudi Arabia, OSN, added: “El Farq is about absolute simplicity. It is total value for money, delivered just the way our customers in Saudi Arabia want. We want to make entertainment accessible for everyone, and we are confident that El Farq will further cement OSN’s position in the Saudi market as the leading provider of premium entertainment.”

 

What makes El Farq a truly different proposition is that it offers a simple and genre-spanning collection of channels giving new subscribers access to OSN’s exclusive content from the world’s leading studios including Fox, HBO, Disney and more for only SAR 159 per month. Customers can also watch El Farq anytime, anywhere with OSN Play.

 

Steve MacDiarmid, Chief Commercial Officer, OSN, said: “As a customer-first organization, we carried out research into the entertainment preferences of Saudi families in order to bring this unique package, to customers here. Our research has helped us understand what really matters to customers in KSA, and OSN has brought all of those elements together in ‘El Farq’. Our test phase recorded growth in the subscriber base across all segments, particularly in the 25 to 44 age-group, which makes us confident that, as we roll out El Farq in Saudi Arabia, this product will resonate with customers and exceed their expectations.”

 

OSN’s research identified that general entertainment and Arabic series are the most consumed genre on OSN video-on-demand, and El Farq aims to keep audiences happy with even more of the content that Saudi audiences love. In the next few months OSN will exclusively premiere some of the most talked about shows including the final season of Game of Thrones (premiering April 15); season 3 of The Handmaid’s Tale (premiering in June); new Arabic shows on OSN YaHala Al Oula HD such as Tishweesh (Sundays at 11pm) and Stiletto Vendetta (premiering March 11), as well as  Menna w Fina (منا و فينا) on Comedy Central – a new locally produced stand-up series filmed in Jeddah and Dubai with some of the best Arabic comedians including Atheer Yacoub, Ali Sultan, Khalid Omar, and Rajae Qawas to name a few.

 

El Farq’s benefits go beyond what’s on screen, OSN has also simplified the payments process making it easier for customers to pay for their OSN experience, using either cash or credit card upon installation.

 

Saudi Arabia spoke, OSN listened, and El Farq delivers what families in KSA want from their TV experience.