JEDDAH, 26 August 2007 — The English Premier League, which is shown on Showtime Arabia, the Middle East’s leading satellite television network, has made the channel a prime target for hackers in the Kingdom in an ongoing digital war between code-makers and code-breakers.
Showtime currently owns the exclusive broadcast rights for the English Premier League and is also tied with the Al Jazeera network, which exclusively owns broadcasting rights of the Spanish Premier League and Italian SerieA.
Showtime’s monopoly of broadcasting rights of major international football leagues is a well-thought move since football is considered the world’s most popular sport and the English Premier League the world’s most popular event. However, the move is also a risky one. Showtime has attracted the attention of digital pirates keen on hacking the network and providing black market cut-price viewing of the channel.
Research supports the fact that football is the most viewed sport in the world and that the Premier League is the No. 1 football league.
The problem of hacking is so acute that even Amr Khaled, a prominent Egyptian religious scholar, has made appearances on television commercials highlighting the impermissibility, according to Islamic law, of pirating signals.
“We would become a larger target for pirates when we begin broadcasting the world’s most popular football league,” said Danny Bottoms, Showtime Arabia’s executive vice president and chief operating officer. “We were prepared for the challenge and will continue to protect all of our assets,” said Bottoms.
“This is ultimately a concern that affects many businesses in many sectors across the Middle East. Showtime is in a continuous battle with criminals who pirate our signals,” he said, adding that the company believes subscriptions will significantly increase as a result of the Premier League and other exclusive programs that it broadcasts.
“Of late, we have had issues with some decoders that were illegally allowing Showtime and other pay TV providers to be viewed. We have had success against them and will continue to take action to protect our assets,” he added.
Bottoms explained that piracy comes in many forms in the region with unauthorized private cable networks, Internet-based systems, theft of specific channels and codes, and illegal use of legitimate consumer subscriptions in a commercial venue.
Ahmad, a university student, does his own code-breaking at home. “There are a number of websites that provide you with codes. It’s Showtime that everyone is after. In the past it was ART (Arab and Radio Television),” he said.
When asked why steal and not subscribe, Ahmad said: “I can’t afford the subscription rates and I love football and have an option to view it for free, so I do.”
He added that there is a number of down points in watching the channel this way. “Sometimes we miss matches when the signal is cut by Showtime. It’s frustrating sometimes especially at the end of the season when the competition heats up,” he said.
“There is more than one way to skin a cat. I mainly use two websites one of which is a local website to search for the code. I simply cut and paste the code and get access to free viewing,” said Ahmad, who does not view his actions as illegal.
Ahmad said that he has been facing trouble with the Showtime signal since Aug. 16. “I am sure code-breakers will come up with a new code within the next few coming days. They always do,” he said.
However, on the other end of the spectrum, Bottoms said that protecting Showtime’s tremendous investment in quality programming is the primary issue forcing Showtime to encrypt their channels and fund anti-piracy activities. “We use many advanced counter-measures at Showtime and cooperate broadly with other pay TV providers to minimize the impact of piracy. We also look to governments to enforce anti-piracy laws,” he said.
Football kept ART for a number of years a popular target for pirates. ART once owned the exclusive rights of the Top 3 leagues in addition to the World Cup and the European Club Championship, and used all media and technical tools possible to keep illegal viewers out of its domain. However, their losses were estimated to be in the millions.
“When anyone steals from a business it results in a loss of profit, but it is extremely difficult to quantify the impact of piracy on Showtime or the industry,” said Bottom, adding that Showtime believes that customers who use pirated receivers end up paying more than if they became direct subscribers.
“We believe the main victim here is the customer who pays for these pirated receivers, installation and maintenance fees, and pays every time we stop piracy, which always happen and we will continue to do so,” he said.
Abdul Aziz, 28, works in administration at a prominent Saudi company and installs illegal free subscription channels during his spare time. “I do it to pay my bills, there is not a lot of work in it and the money is good,” he said, adding that he uses an Internet-based system which operates in the form of an unauthorized cable network. This method is different to that used by Ahmad.
Abdul Aziz charges SR1,200 for installation (including decoder) and SR150 for a six-month subscription fee. “The network is still operating and has been so for the past several months. The great thing about this method is that the provider is a legitimate subscriber himself,” said Abdul Aziz.
“You get a variety of more than you can dream of. For starters you can view all the subscription channels operating in the region in addition to other European networks,” he explained.
However, although piracy may be cheap on the short term, Bottoms believes it is the customer that loses out on the long term. “In some markets, legitimate and honest consumers end up paying the bill for those who steal. The cost of a DVD movie has increased over the years due to rampant piracy among other reasons. Battling piracy is unfortunately a cost of doing business for Showtime but we have no plans to pass it on to our valued customers,” he said.
In addition to football, porn channels are also in high demand in the region. Mustafa, an Egyptian satellite technician at Sahary Market, said: “Porn and football are the two main attractions for customers seeking illegal channels.”
However, the battle against piracy continues. Bottoms said, “Ultimately, we believe our premium content will deliver on our business objectives and that our robust business model will trump the pirates.”
