A Next-Gen Super Aggregator Platform Redefining Entertainment in MENA

Background

Technology is reshaping the Media & Entertainment industry into a seamless, experience-driven ecosystem. Content aggregation has become critical for delivering unified viewing experiences across platforms. 

MBC Group, one of the largest media company in the Middle East and North Africa, aimed to address growing content fragmentation and  create a premium, all-in-one entertainment hub for its subscribers. Tata Elxsi's deep technological expertise and the ability to seamlessly integrate complex systems played a crucial role in enabling the launch of MBCNOW, a next-generation super aggregator platform that unifies live TV, VOD, and leading OTT services.

Challenge

MBC faced the challenge of serving a rapidly evolving digital audience in the MENA region, where viewers increasingly expected seamless access to both local and global content. Fragmented subscriptions and growing competition in the streaming landscape highlighted the need to simplify content access and solve the long-standing challenge of content fragmentation in the MENA media ecosystem. 

Solution

Tata Elxsi served as the Master System Integrator for this transformative project, delivering a comprehensive end-to-end entertainment aggregator solution, powered by TEPlay, Tata Elxsi’s advanced OTT platform. The solution seamlessly integrated linear TV and VOD, combining premium Arabic and international content, live channels, and exclusive originals into a unified, intuitive viewing experience.

Additionally, the Android TV STB leveraged Tata Elxsi’s award winning AndroidTV solution suite, which included custom operator-tier launcher, OTA and iCX. The operator tier launcher was tailored to provide an enhanced user experience, simplifying content discovery, OTA for seamless software updates and iCX platform for real time management of the STB. 

Tata Elxsi also managed the cloud infrastructure for secure, scalable operations and provided robust post-launch field support, ensuring operational stability and quick issue resolution.

This collaboration transformed MBCNOW into a next-gen super aggregator platform, bringing together live TV, Shahid, and Netflix under one digital umbrella.

Impact

Tata Elxsi’s solution bridges the gap between digital streaming and traditional broadcast television – bringing together MBC’s award-winning channels, as well as Shahid, Netflix, all in one platform. It offers subscribers with high level of personalization options, content discovery and recommendations thereby boosting user engagement and delivering captivating video viewing experience. 

The entertainment service aggregator is designed to deliver convenience and value representing a 21% savings compared to obtaining separate subscriptions. It strengthened MBC’s position as a premium entertainment service provider, extending Netflix’s reach into MENA. This sets a new benchmark for content aggregation, catering to diverse viewing preferences across Middle East and North Africa, Saudi Arabia and the wider Arab world.

Our work helped us win BroadcastProME Manufacturer Award in ‘Best in Linear Distribution’ category for MBCNOW box in May 2025.

Services rendered

• End-to-end engineering
• Design services
• Content aggregation
• Android TV services
• Remote monitoring and management
• OTA
• Cloud infrastructure management
• Customer experience management