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.
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What is an FTO Designation?
FTO designations impose immigration restrictions on members of the organisation simply by virtue of their membership and triggers a criminal prohibition on knowingly providing material support or resources to the designated organisation as well as asset freezes.
It is a crime for a person in the United States or subject to the jurisdiction of the United States to knowingly provide “material support or resources” to or receive military-type training from or on behalf of a designated FTO.
Representatives and members of a designated FTO, if they are aliens, are inadmissible to and, in certain circumstances removable from, the United States.
Except as authorised by the Secretary of the Treasury, any US financial institution that becomes aware that it has possession of or control over funds in which an FTO or its agent has an interest must retain possession of or control over the funds and report the funds to the Treasury Department.
Source: US Department of State
Trump v Khan
2016: Feud begins after Khan criticised Trump’s proposed Muslim travel ban to US
2017: Trump criticises Khan’s ‘no reason to be alarmed’ response to London Bridge terror attacks
2019: Trump calls Khan a “stone cold loser” before first state visit
2019: Trump tweets about “Khan’s Londonistan”, calling him “a national disgrace”
2022: Khan’s office attributes rise in Islamophobic abuse against the major to hostility stoked during Trump’s presidency
July 2025 During a golfing trip to Scotland, Trump calls Khan “a nasty person”
Sept 2025 Trump blames Khan for London’s “stabbings and the dirt and the filth”.
Dec 2025 Trump suggests migrants got Khan elected, calls him a “horrible, vicious, disgusting mayor”
Who's who in Yemen conflict
Houthis: Iran-backed rebels who occupy Sanaa and run unrecognised government
Yemeni government: Exiled government in Aden led by eight-member Presidential Leadership Council
Southern Transitional Council: Faction in Yemeni government that seeks autonomy for the south
Habrish 'rebels': Tribal-backed forces feuding with STC over control of oil in government territory
Lexus LX700h specs
Engine: 3.4-litre twin-turbo V6 plus supplementary electric motor
Power: 464hp at 5,200rpm
Torque: 790Nm from 2,000-3,600rpm
Transmission: 10-speed auto
Fuel consumption: 11.7L/100km
On sale: Now
Price: From Dh590,000
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Classification of skills
A worker is categorised as skilled by the MOHRE based on nine levels given in the International Standard Classification of Occupations (ISCO) issued by the International Labour Organisation.
A skilled worker would be someone at a professional level (levels 1 – 5) which includes managers, professionals, technicians and associate professionals, clerical support workers, and service and sales workers.
The worker must also have an attested educational certificate higher than secondary or an equivalent certification, and earn a monthly salary of at least Dh4,000.
Milestones on the road to union
1970
October 26: Bahrain withdraws from a proposal to create a federation of nine with the seven Trucial States and Qatar.
December: Ahmed Al Suwaidi visits New York to discuss potential UN membership.
1971
March 1: Alex Douglas Hume, Conservative foreign secretary confirms that Britain will leave the Gulf and “strongly supports” the creation of a Union of Arab Emirates.
July 12: Historic meeting at which Sheikh Zayed and Sheikh Rashid make a binding agreement to create what will become the UAE.
July 18: It is announced that the UAE will be formed from six emirates, with a proposed constitution signed. RAK is not yet part of the agreement.
August 6: The fifth anniversary of Sheikh Zayed becoming Ruler of Abu Dhabi, with official celebrations deferred until later in the year.
August 15: Bahrain becomes independent.
September 3: Qatar becomes independent.
November 23-25: Meeting with Sheikh Zayed and Sheikh Rashid and senior British officials to fix December 2 as date of creation of the UAE.
November 29: At 5.30pm Iranian forces seize the Greater and Lesser Tunbs by force.
November 30: Despite a power sharing agreement, Tehran takes full control of Abu Musa.
November 31: UK officials visit all six participating Emirates to formally end the Trucial States treaties
December 2: 11am, Dubai. New Supreme Council formally elects Sheikh Zayed as President. Treaty of Friendship signed with the UK. 11.30am. Flag raising ceremony at Union House and Al Manhal Palace in Abu Dhabi witnessed by Sheikh Khalifa, then Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi.
December 6: Arab League formally admits the UAE. The first British Ambassador presents his credentials to Sheikh Zayed.
December 9: UAE joins the United Nations.
Explainer: Tanween Design Programme
Non-profit arts studio Tashkeel launched this annual initiative with the intention of supporting budding designers in the UAE. This year, three talents were chosen from hundreds of applicants to be a part of the sixth creative development programme. These are architect Abdulla Al Mulla, interior designer Lana El Samman and graphic designer Yara Habib.
The trio have been guided by experts from the industry over the course of nine months, as they developed their own products that merge their unique styles with traditional elements of Emirati design. This includes laboratory sessions, experimental and collaborative practice, investigation of new business models and evaluation.
It is led by British contemporary design project specialist Helen Voce and mentor Kevin Badni, and offers participants access to experts from across the world, including the likes of UK designer Gareth Neal and multidisciplinary designer and entrepreneur, Sheikh Salem Al Qassimi.
The final pieces are being revealed in a worldwide limited-edition release on the first day of Downtown Designs at Dubai Design Week 2019. Tashkeel will be at stand E31 at the exhibition.
Lisa Ball-Lechgar, deputy director of Tashkeel, said: “The diversity and calibre of the applicants this year … is reflective of the dynamic change that the UAE art and design industry is witnessing, with young creators resolute in making their bold design ideas a reality.”
Desert Warrior
Starring: Anthony Mackie, Aiysha Hart, Ben Kingsley
Director: Rupert Wyatt
Rating: 3/5
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Brief scores:
Manchester City 3
Aguero 1', 44', 61'
Arsenal 1
Koscielny 11'
Man of the match: Sergio Aguero (Manchester City)
