No NetFlix? No problem. Go, a new online service from the UAE’s leading pay TV network, OSN, launched on Sunday, is now offering monthly video-on-demand subscriptions accessible on your choice of laptop, smartphone or tablet.
For Dh37 a month — with a free seven-day trial and without the need for a contract or subscription to OSN — users in 24 MENA countries will have unlimited access to over 5,000 hours of Arabic and English entertainment on up to two registered devices.
“There’s been other services around, like Netflix, for a long time,” said Emad Morcos, senior vice president of business development and digital at OSN. “But as I mentioned, for us, it’s always been about timing and we’ve timed it nicely in terms of catching an opportunity and a momentum.”
Courtesy of studios such as Paramount, AMC and Disney, titles currently available on Go include TV shows Revenge, Justice and Private Practice while films range from the Hunger Games to the family-friendly Tangled. Content is edited for the MENA region as it would be on any other OSN platform, with subtitles. Parental control is also an option.
Egyptian, Turkish and Gulf-based titles will be available. The new service comes just in time for Ramadan content, which will include six Go-only Ramadan programmes that will be staggered over the duration of the month and available in full afterwards.
Though Go isn’t modelled explicitly after Netflix, there will be some similarities in approach. NetFlix has been known to produce its own content, such as Orange is the New Black, and Go might follow suit by connecting with independent sources.
“One of the things we are doing is already having discussions with smaller studios that have kind of flourished with that specific [young] demographic and we’re looking at investing in those relationships,” Morcos said.
Go will also include streams of festival flicks, like 2013 Dubai International Film Festival standout Champ of the Camp, and eventually, international and domestic music concerts.
As for Bollywood? Fret not — there’s hope yet. “Yes, you can expect it,” said OSN CEO David Butorac. “But not in the short term.”
*To subscribe to Go, check out go.osn.com.
