04 July 2016 Tapping into the Expat pay-TV Community Share
Living in any community as an expat can often be challenging until you find your feet. Ask any expat what they miss most about home and TV will sit high atop their list, although they may not admit it at first. For many, TV is a source of comfort, and for expats, it can bring about feelings of nostalgia over their home language, culture and characters that they may have grown up watching. There are many expat channels such as RTE for the Irish or our client JSTV who are the one and only Japanese satellite channel in Europe, Middle-east, Russia and North Africa and deliver a wide range of Japanese TV programs 24/7 they have worked hard to ensure their viewers are engaged with their OTT content over the years.
Challenges
Geo-blocking - Unfortunately, many expats who have tried to stream video from another country, have seen this notice: This content is not available in your location. As an operator, you want to offer your content to expats, but legal and licensing limitations can prevent streaming it across borders. Consequently, geo-blocking is used to prevent people in one country from accessing content in another.
Privacy - Some Tech-savvy expats have long been able to circumvent geo-blocking by masking their IP address behind a virtual private network (VPN). This is something Netflix currently have to deal with on their platform.
Language - Another large barrier for many expats to overcome is language. For example, in the MENA market, there is a large western community and although there are 1000s of free to air TV channels, these are mainly in Arabic. There is a growing need to cater to those that speak English. There is a market for paid content that meets the needs of the expat community.
Creating a solution
Today, more and more broadcasters are realising how important it is for people to find their local' television in whatever country they are currently living in. Whether it's top series and entertainment, sports, music, movies, kid's programs, documentaries, news, shopping, travel, cooking channels and more, expats all over the world are yearning to be able to watch what they want, when they want it, in any country. Although many expats will be reluctant to admit it, being able to watch familiar television programmes from their home country makes for a happier expat.
So how can operators best serve the expat community? First, operators must meet growing demand for expat TV. Whether it's an extra channel on linear TV or a pay-TV channel or via OTT, TV providers must provide a better option for expats who want to access channels from their home country, easily and lawfully. They need to find you and your content. This happens by building awareness and driving customer acquisition in the expat segment. In our experience, this is a huge market opportunity for any pay-TV business. Operators looking to tap into this market should focus on competing on content, breadth of service and price - which all drive the customer to abandon loyalty and chase the best deal or whoever is providing their home' TV programmes. By offering great subscription packages, compelling introductory offers and timely engagement, operators can tap into lucrative new markets within the expat community.
Second, operators need to help expats consume the content they want to watch when they want to watch it. Create a great experience during the first 90 days of a subscription is essential by proactively engaging a subscriber, getting them familiar with their expat TV service, billing them properly and encouraging as much content consumption as possible.
Reaping the rewards
Many USA specific content is available on OTT platforms like Netflix and Amazon Prime, as broadcasters and content creators are selling their content to these platforms that have a global reach. TV providers are finding that they have a very different market than they originally thought possible. For example, Dramafever owned by Warner Brothers was originally aimed at expats from Korea. However, thanks to subtitles and shifting marketing to US consumers, the show was found and discovered by an untapped US audience and they are now offering on-demand streaming video of documentaries, movies, and TV shows with subtitles. We now live in a global society; therefore, it's important for operators to deliver content to people wherever they are in the world.
In an effort to ensure potential expat subscribers find and consume your service, we can help you to enhance your brand awareness programmes with targeted tactical acquisition, and direct and easy sign-up processes to make sure you convert viewers to customers. We can also help advise which trial offers work better and how to move customers from trial to fully paid subscribers.
By partnering with Paywizard, you'll benefit from 18 years of subscription-based business experience and a platform built on the job. We've helped more than 100 pay-TV operators to deliver personalised customer experiences. By having a unique range of partnerships and integrations with leading products and services, all parties benefit and your customers receive the best of both worlds. And let's not forget, it's all about the customer.
Once they've found you what's next - the time is ticking for you to turn your viewers into loyal subscribers. Learn more by checking out our new white paper.
Most recent headlines
05/01/2027
Worlds first 802.15.4ab-UWB chip verified by Calterah and Rohde & Schwarz to be ...
04/08/2026
Dalet, a leading technology and service provider for media-rich organizations, t...
04/07/2026
April 7 2026, 19:00 (PDT) Detective Conan: Fallen Angel of the Highway Opens in...
01/06/2026
January 6 2026, 05:30 (PST) Dolby Sets the New Standard for Premium Entertainment at CES 2026
Throughout the week, Dolby brings to life the latest innovatio...
13/05/2026
New Adobe Premiere Color Grading Mode Accelerated on NVIDIA GPUs
Joel Pennington May 13, 2026
0 Comments
New NVIDIA RTX-accelerated features streamlin...
13/05/2026
Grass Valley announced that dB Broadcast has delivered new IP-based outside broadcast (OB) trucks for Cloudbass, featuring Grass Valley LDX 100 Series cameras a...
13/05/2026
Ikegami will exhibit the latest additions to its wide range of broadcast production cameras, control units, viewfinders and monitors on stand 5D3-1 at Broadcast...
13/05/2026
FISE, working with the founding members of the XR Sports Alliance (XRSA), Accedo, Qualcomm Technologies, Inc. and HBS, have collaborated to develop an immersive...
13/05/2026
Canon Unveils New EOS R6 V Full-Frame EOS Camera and RF20-50mm F4 L IS USM PZ Bu...
13/05/2026
Boston Conservatory at Berklee Honors Beth Morrison and Moses Pendleton at Comme...
13/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
13/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
13/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
13/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
13/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
13/05/2026
Creative software developer Foundry today announced the latest developments on Nuke Stage. A purpose-built application for end-to-end virtual production and in-...
13/05/2026
A definitive portrait of one of Ireland's most influential musicians
New TV documentary airs Monday 18 May on RT One and RT Player at 9.35pm
Watch the...
13/05/2026
Agentic AI is changing the way users get work done. Following the success of OpenClaw, the community is embracing new open source agentic frameworks. The latest...
13/05/2026
Reinforcement-learning agents - AI systems that learn by trial and error - can c...
12/05/2026
Beyond the Hype: A Strategic Post-Hoc Analysis of NAB 2026 If NAB Show 2026 had an underlying theme, it was a quiet, industry-wide pivot from the high-energy sp...
12/05/2026
Guntermann and Drunck (G&D), a Panoptec Technologies Group company, and CT Square, led by Chandresh Shah, have announced a joint venture to distribute G&D and V...
12/05/2026
With 30 days until the start of the FIFA World Cup 2026, Telemundo, the exclusive Spanish-language home of the tournament in the United States, has announced th...
12/05/2026
The NHL has announced the return of Stanley Pup for its third consecutive year, a 90-minute special featuring adoptable rescue dogs competing on a miniature rin...
12/05/2026
NBCUniversal presented its 2026 Upfront to advertisers at Radio City Music Hall, detailing upcoming programming across NBC, Peacock, Bravo, and Versant properti...
12/05/2026
FOX Sports has announced funding for the Fandom and Social Connection Initiative at Harvard Kennedy School's Shorenstein Center on Media, Politics, and Publ...
12/05/2026
TNDV and Live Media, both divisions of Live Media Group, supported live broadcast coverage around NCAA Final Four weekend in Indianapolis, including the March M...
12/05/2026
The European Football Alliance (EFA) has announced a content distribution agreement with Fubo Sports Network, the free ad-supported streaming TV (FAST) channel ...
12/05/2026
For the first time, Spanish-speaking fans in the U.S. will have two separate tel...
12/05/2026
CP Communications led a comprehensive spectrum management initiative on behalf of Churchill Downs during Kentucky Derby week, coordinating RF assets across the ...
12/05/2026
LiveU has announced a strategic partnership with DRONERESPONDERS, a 501(c)3 non-...
12/05/2026
Open Broadcast Systems has announced that BMC TV, a specialist in IP transport of broadcast content, has selected the Open Broadcast Systems 5G Flyaway solution...
12/05/2026
NEP Europe, part of NEP Group, has announced it will deliver broadcast solutions...
12/05/2026
Grass Valley has announced continued collaboration with Ravensbourne University ...
12/05/2026
Stats Perform has announced the launch of Opta Pulse, an AI-assisted video creation and distribution platform for leagues, rights holders, and broadcasters. The...
12/05/2026
FOX Sports has announced a collaboration with Sesame Workshop to integrate Sesame Street characters into FOX Sports' FIFA World Cup 2026 programming. Conten...
12/05/2026
To date, NHL Productions has produced 19 broadcasts with commentary in American Sign Language
NHL in ASL (American Sign Language) may be just one show, but the...
12/05/2026
Google's Brian Albert: creators, athletes, highlights, nostalgia, second-scr...
12/05/2026
A still from Past Lives by Celine Song, an official selection of the Premieres program at the 2023 Sundance Film Festival. (Courtesy of Sundance Institute | p...
12/05/2026
Spotify is where fans and artists come together, turning discovery into somethin...
12/05/2026
Features patented Marco-MMC clocking technology
Black Lion Audio's latest release combines the company's expertise in clocking with their renowned p...
12/05/2026
New Track Panel, sequencer upgrades & more
Following their recent public beta release, Reason Studios have announced the full release of Reason 14. With the...
12/05/2026
One month to go! SBS reveals expansive FIFA World Cup 2026 lineup beyond the pi...
12/05/2026
Rohde & Schwarz presents its advanced solutions for power electronics testing at...
12/05/2026
aconnic AG (ISIN: DE000A0LBKW6), Munich, has developed a modified fund raising p...
12/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
12/05/2026
Tyrell Corporation, specialists in high-end live sports and entertainment broadcasts, was tasked with delivering compelling broadcast coverage of premier equest...
12/05/2026
Registration is now open for IBC2026 as the global media, entertainment and technology community prepares to converge on the RAI Amsterdam from 11 14 September ...
12/05/2026
Ross Video, a global leader in live video production technology, will present its latest innovations and integrated production workflows at BroadcastAsia 2026, ...
12/05/2026
500 selected leaders from around the world across start-ups, corporates, and venture capital. Over 50bn in assets under management among attending investors, a...
04 July 2016 Tapping into the Expat pay-TV Community Share 
