Intigral launches TV app, plans new box roll-out with STC in July

Last month, Dubai-based Intigral announced the launch of Jawwy TV, its OTT streaming service. Alongside that, Intigral, a wholly owned subsidiary of Saudi Telecommunications Company (STC), has also designed a new box to be rolled out in July 2018. The new HomeBox, which has an integrated OTT element, will feature all of STC’s premium content including the Saudi Football League, to which it secured the exclusive broadcast rights for the next ten years.

HomeBox will initially be available only through the telco operator, though it will be available for direct sale to customers in the future.

Explaining the new launches, Intigral CEO Hamoud Al Rumayan said: “We have two different products. The full version is our HomeBox, which we will launch in July along with STC. On this box, we have both FTA and encrypted content. A basic bouquet is available, and subscribers can upgrade based on their requirement.

“The other product is a TV app which will cater to the whole MENA region, although at this time it is available only in Bahrain, Saudi Arabia and Kuwait. Once you register on our website, you can download the Jawwy TV app from Google Play or the App Store. This app allows you to see the content on both the mobile and the tablet, with no possibility of mirroring to the big screen.”

For a monthly subscription fee of $8, Jawwy TV boasts more than 7,000 assets thanks to partnerships with Wide Khaleeji, Blu TV, Starz Play and OSN, among others. While HomeBox will have the entire Starz Play collection, a lite version will be available on Jawwy TV. The platform will also stream highlights from Saudi Football League matches.

“Intigral’s aim is to make Jawwy the MENA region’s best OTT platform and we are exploring partnerships with numerous platforms including Shahid, in addition to creating our own content and acquiring Arabic content,” commented Tony Saab, VP of Products & Content, Intigral.

“Some partners only have a lite version on Jawwy TV, and we have 40% fewer linear channels than the box. But you have 7,000-plus assets as VOD. We also have control of Jawwy TV’s end-to-end ecosystem, from buying the rights and receiving the material to ingesting it, securing it through its DRM, and delivering the VOD and streaming services through its own in-house CDN to multiple countries in the MENA region. This puts us in control of the service end to end. We also have deals with international hubs to be present through our rights to peer with multiple telcos in the international hub exchange, and this will enhance the user experience and avoid buffering,” he added.

“We are aiming to be in the whole of MENA as soon as possible. Our USP is our original Arabic content and the Saudi Premier League. We have content from all of the five major studios on Jawwy TV, including content from Bollywood, and will be having conversations with others like Netflix soon. We have our own drama productions, will have 900 to 1,000 exclusive assets, and we are also buying the first window rights to some content. We aim to start our own productions and co-productions, starting July,” he added.

For Ramadan, Intigral already has exclusive digital rights to several Ramadan series including Haroun al Rasheed and Warda el Shamiah, which are showing exclusively on JawwyTV. Payment for the app is presently limited to direct carrier billing, though other options will be added in the future.

Also read: Starz Play content to play on Intigral’s Jawwy TV platform in new three-year deal