The June 8 launch of Disney+ in the Middle East will bring another A-list streaming service to an already crowded marketplace, and seems certain to ensure the rapidly growing service, which reported a 37 per cent year-on-year growth in subscriber numbers in its year-end report for 2021, will continue to add viewers at an impressive rate.
With 129.8 million subscribers internationally at the close of last year (including its Asian Disney+ Hotstar offshoot), Disney still lags behind Netflix in terms of pure numbers — the grandaddy of the streaming services reported 221.84 million subscribers at the close of 2021 — but Netflix’s growth has been slowing in recent years, and it can only dream of Disney’s impressive ability to add new subscribers.
Of course, having only launched in the US and other selected markets in 2019, Disney hasn't yet had Netflix’s 15 years as a streaming service to reach peak viewers, and we can only expect its own growth to slow with time, but right now it’s the streaming service du jour, with new shows from the Star Wars and Marvel franchises driving new subscriptions, alongside originals such as The Mighty Ducks: Game Changers and a century of the parent company’s back catalogue.
It seems likely to keep adding viewers for the rest of 2022, with launches in a further 42 countries and 11 territories planned over the year.
With this in mind, we take a look at the key, English-language-focused competition Disney+ will face in the UAE when it enters in June.
Note that although all the streamers on our list feature primarily English content, they also offer a selection of international and local content, as well as subtitles or dubbing in several languages.
Netflix
The original streamer continues to be the world’s most popular thanks to global hits such as 2021’s Squid Game, reliable originals such as Stranger Things and Black Mirror, and collaborations with giants of the film and TV world such as Martin Scorsese (The Irishman) and Zack Snyder (Army of the Dead).
Netflix claims that “more than 125 million hours” of content are available at any time on its site.
The service started in the UAE in 2016, and prices begin at Dh29 a month.
Amazon Prime Video
Amazon’s streaming service is snapping at Netflix’s heels in the global subscriber stakes. The company announced in its April 2021 earnings report that it had topped 200 million paid subscribers. This is somewhat deceptive, however, as Prime Video membership is bundled in with a subscription to the Amazon Prime shopping service.
In the same 2021 earnings report, Amazon chief Jeff Bezos claimed that 175 million of those subscribers “have streamed shows and movies in the past year”. Favourites on the service include the postmodern superhero yarn The Boys and quirky comedy The Marvelous Mrs Maisel, while a healthy Bollywood selection also keeps viewers in the region glued to their screens.
Amazon Prime entered the UAE market in 2019 and costs Dh16 a month, or Dh140 a year.
Starzplay Arabia
Starzplay Arabia is something of a local success story, with just short of two million subscribers in the region at the end of 2021, a figure that only seems likely to have grown with the service’s move into live sports, including exclusive rights to the 2022 Fifa World Cup qualifiers and the Coppa Italia.
Starzplay also has a healthy commitment to local content, such as the forthcoming Image Nation Abu Dhabi co-production Urban Legends, alongside a sizeable, 10,000 hour-plus back catalogue of international favourites such as The Office and Big Bang Theory.
Starzplay launched in the UAE in 2014, and costs Dh40 a month.
OSN+
OSN’s streaming service gained its latest moniker, replacing OSN Streaming, in March, following incarnations as OSN Play, OSN Go and Wavo.
Thankfully, OSN+’s content updates more regularly than its name, including shows from HBO, NBC and Paramount such as Game of Thrones and Halo, alongside local content such as the soon-to-launch Arabic adaptation of Suits and OSN’s debut feature film The Yellow Bus.
OSN was also, until recently, the home of Disney streaming in the region through the Disney+ on OSN service. However Disney is now winding down contracts with third-party broadcasters in order to ramp up its own offering.
OSN+ costs Dh35 monthly.
Apple TV+
Apple TV+, it’s fair to say, doesn’t boast the same volume of content as some of its competitors, but what it lacks in quantity it seeks to make up for in quality.
From quirky comedy courtesy of the Jason Sudeikis-starring Ted Lasso to the Jennifer Aniston and Reese Witherspoon-fronted drama The Morning Show via M Night Shyamalan weirdness thanks to Servant, Apple TV+ is the living embodiment of good things in small packages.
It also just picked up the first Oscar for Best Picture for a streaming service for Coda.
Apple TV+ launched in the UAE in 2019 and costs Dh19.99 a month.
Key findings of Jenkins report
- Founder of the Muslim Brotherhood, Hassan al Banna, "accepted the political utility of violence"
- Views of key Muslim Brotherhood ideologue, Sayyid Qutb, have “consistently been understood” as permitting “the use of extreme violence in the pursuit of the perfect Islamic society” and “never been institutionally disowned” by the movement.
- Muslim Brotherhood at all levels has repeatedly defended Hamas attacks against Israel, including the use of suicide bombers and the killing of civilians.
- Laying out the report in the House of Commons, David Cameron told MPs: "The main findings of the review support the conclusion that membership of, association with, or influence by the Muslim Brotherhood should be considered as a possible indicator of extremism."
What can victims do?
Always use only regulated platforms
Stop all transactions and communication on suspicion
Save all evidence (screenshots, chat logs, transaction IDs)
Report to local authorities
Warn others to prevent further harm
Courtesy: Crystal Intelligence
How to wear a kandura
Dos
- Wear the right fabric for the right season and occasion
- Always ask for the dress code if you don’t know
- Wear a white kandura, white ghutra / shemagh (headwear) and black shoes for work
- Wear 100 per cent cotton under the kandura as most fabrics are polyester
Don’ts
- Wear hamdania for work, always wear a ghutra and agal
- Buy a kandura only based on how it feels; ask questions about the fabric and understand what you are buying
Europe wide
Some of French groups are threatening Friday to continue their journey to Brussels, the capital of Belgium and the European Union, and to meet up with drivers from other countries on Monday.
Belgian authorities joined French police in banning the threatened blockade. A similar lorry cavalcade was planned for Friday in Vienna but cancelled after authorities prohibited it.
Company profile
Name: One Good Thing
Founders: Bridgett Lau and Micheal Cooke
Based in: Dubai
Sector: e-commerce
Size: 5 employees
Stage: Looking for seed funding
Investors: Self-funded and seeking external investors
COMPANY PROFILE
Name: Xpanceo
Started: 2018
Founders: Roman Axelrod, Valentyn Volkov
Based: Dubai, UAE
Industry: Smart contact lenses, augmented/virtual reality
Funding: $40 million
Investor: Opportunity Venture (Asia)
Specs
Engine: Electric motor generating 54.2kWh (Cooper SE and Aceman SE), 64.6kW (Countryman All4 SE)
Power: 218hp (Cooper and Aceman), 313hp (Countryman)
Torque: 330Nm (Cooper and Aceman), 494Nm (Countryman)
On sale: Now
Price: From Dh158,000 (Cooper), Dh168,000 (Aceman), Dh190,000 (Countryman)
PREMIER LEAGUE FIXTURES
Tuesday (UAE kick-off times)
Leicester City v Brighton (9pm)
Tottenham Hotspur v West Ham United (11.15pm)
Wednesday
Manchester United v Sheffield United (9pm)
Newcastle United v Aston Villa (9pm)
Norwich City v Everton (9pm)
Wolves v Bournemouth (9pm)
Liverpool v Crystal Palace (11.15pm)
Thursday
Burnley v Watford (9pm)
Southampton v Arsenal (9pm)
Chelsea v Manchester City (11.15pm)
Company%20profile
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3ECompany%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EWafeq%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EStarted%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EJanuary%202019%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EFounder%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3ENadim%20Alameddine%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EBased%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EDubai%2C%20UAE%3Cstrong%3E%3Cbr%3EIndustry%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3Esoftware%20as%20a%20service%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EFunds%20raised%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3E%243%20million%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EInvestors%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3ERaed%20Ventures%20and%20Wamda%2C%20among%20others%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
Juvenile arthritis
Along with doctors, families and teachers can help pick up cases of arthritis in children.
Most types of childhood arthritis are known as juvenile idiopathic arthritis. JIA causes pain and inflammation in one or more joints for at least six weeks.
Dr Betina Rogalski said "The younger the child the more difficult it into pick up the symptoms. If the child is small, it may just be a bit grumpy or pull its leg a way or not feel like walking,” she said.
According to The National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases in US, the most common symptoms of juvenile arthritis are joint swelling, pain, and stiffness that doesn’t go away. Usually it affects the knees, hands, and feet, and it’s worse in the morning or after a nap.
Limping in the morning because of a stiff knee, excessive clumsiness, having a high fever and skin rash are other symptoms. Children may also have swelling in lymph nodes in the neck and other parts of the body.
Arthritis in children can cause eye inflammation and growth problems and can cause bones and joints to grow unevenly.
In the UK, about 15,000 children and young people are affected by arthritis.
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
The more serious side of specialty coffee
While the taste of beans and freshness of roast is paramount to the specialty coffee scene, so is sustainability and workers’ rights.
The bulk of genuine specialty coffee companies aim to improve on these elements in every stage of production via direct relationships with farmers. For instance, Mokha 1450 on Al Wasl Road strives to work predominantly with women-owned and -operated coffee organisations, including female farmers in the Sabree mountains of Yemen.
Because, as the boutique’s owner, Garfield Kerr, points out: “women represent over 90 per cent of the coffee value chain, but are woefully underrepresented in less than 10 per cent of ownership and management throughout the global coffee industry.”
One of the UAE’s largest suppliers of green (meaning not-yet-roasted) beans, Raw Coffee, is a founding member of the Partnership of Gender Equity, which aims to empower female coffee farmers and harvesters.
Also, globally, many companies have found the perfect way to recycle old coffee grounds: they create the perfect fertile soil in which to grow mushrooms.
The specs
Engine: 2.0-litre 4-cylinder turbo
Power: 240hp at 5,500rpm
Torque: 390Nm at 3,000rpm
Transmission: eight-speed auto
Price: from Dh122,745
On sale: now
Company profile
Date started: 2015
Founder: John Tsioris and Ioanna Angelidaki
Based: Dubai
Sector: Online grocery delivery
Staff: 200
Funding: Undisclosed, but investors include the Jabbar Internet Group and Venture Friends
