I analyzed 28,335 pieces of content that were published during Ramadan 2023. I looked at all major public social media platforms (not YouTube, though—since it’s not necessarily a social medium), coming from all major broadcasters across MENA.
What I wanted to find out was:
Breaking down the monolith of MENA entertainment into genres (to the best of my ability)
Which entertainment genre was most watched?
Which genre had the most ad breaks?
Which genre drove the most money to broadcasters
Methodology:
Excruciating labeling of these 28K+ posts, a pivot table, and a love for watching Ramadan content. I couldn’t identify the margin of error, but I’m convinced that my findings are solid. The results you will see are top 10’s in each category.
Caveat:
Advertising spend from Egypt was at an all-time low during Ramadan 2023 because of the currency devaluation that was still very much happening. This significant drop severely affected the input, hence the results you’re about to see.
Ready? Here are the findings…
What this means: These are the genres that got the most 1-minute views. Why 1-minute? Because it’s an important timeframe for broadcasters to measure their audience retention and make videos monetizable.
No surprise here, Egyptian drama reigns queen of all entertainment content. Although ad spend from Egyptian advertisers declined during 2023, production didn’t (and won’t).
What this means: These are the genres that made the most money for broadcasters on social. The graph shows all videos that were monetized on social (showing ad breaks). Egyptian drama was at a disadvantage because of limited ads from/in the Egyptian market. 2023 was an exception, we might see this change in 2024.
What this means: CPMs are the cost to reach 1000 people. The higher the CPM, the more crowded the niche. Higher CPMs are good for publishers (they make more money), but costlier for advertisers.
Cooking shows enjoyed the highest CPMs because of competition (mostly from CPG brands and brands targeting women; ultra-saturated and most-advertised to segment).
What this means: I think if YouTube were to be included, this graph would have been very different, but when it comes to views, it’s a game of the biggest population.
Next week, I will share a few best practices that work well for all of you content producers, marketers, and agency folks.
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