EAO. Dmitriy Kolesov, J’son & Partners Consulting: Pay TV, SVOD and cord-cutting in Russia
Dmitriy Kolesov, Head of TV and Content Department, J’son & Partners Consulting.
Pay TV
By the end of 2018, 43.2 million subscribers used Pay TV services in Russia, a 3.1% increase from 2017. The satellite TV subscriber base grew with the overall market, by 2.8%, DCTV grew by 5.7%, IPTV by 9.6%. The number of subscribers of analog cable TV continues to decline, with the ACTV audience decreasing by 1.8%. J'son & Partners Consulting estimates the 2018 Pay TV revenue at 95.3 bn Rub (1.29 bn EUR). Revenue growth relative to 2017 was 14.2%.
Cord-cutters
As of April 2019, the number of cord-cutters represents 4.3% of the population of major cities. This equates to 1.7 million people or 660 thousand households. More than 40% of former Pay TV subscribers live in cities with populations of 1 million+. Most professional online video viewers seem to be unwilling to have a paid subscription. 17% of them, however, have signed up for one at least once. From 2017 to 2019 the number of cord-cutters in Russia was relatively small 1.7 million people or 660 thousand households. This represents 4.3% of the population of major cities and shows no tendency to expand.
The European Audiovisual Observatory, part of the Council of Europe, in collaboration with J’son & Partners Consulting presented a new report on pay-TV and cord cutting in Russia. A conference took place in Moscow on Tuesday 29 October 2019 and gathered more than 100 professionals and high-executives from the industry.
