euro news2005v3_news 23/05/2013 17:43 Page 4
VTB Capital acquires Tricolor TV stake
lobal investment bank VTB Capital has acquired a minority stake in National Satellite Company, the largest Russian satellite TV operator operating under ‘Tricolor TV’ brand. VTB Capital says its aim is to help Tricolor TV to increase value of its assets and get prepared for an IPO in few years. Tim Demchenko, global head of private equity at VTB Capital said that the investment was one more step in implementing VTB Capital’s private equity strategy to invest in consumer-related industries in Russia. “We believe its strong market position and countrywide footprint will enable the company to capitalise on
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opportunities in a rapidly growing Russian pay-TV market and successfully complete an IPO in the next few years,” he explained. Alexander Makarov, CEO of National Satellite Company, said the VTB partnership was a strategic step which would allow the Company to get prepared for the next level of its development. With its subscriber base over 12.4m (registered subscribers) including paying subscribers of 9.12m as of March 25, 2013, Tricolor TV is the leader of Russia’s pay-TV market and one of the largest pay-TV providers in Europe. Tricolor TV has been broadcasting its digital channel package in the European part of
Russia as well as the Siberian, Ural and Far East regions. According to IHS Screen Digest, Tricolor TV is ranked first in the world for the pace of growth of its subscriber base in 2012.
Tricolor TV holds the third position in the ranking of the world’s largest television operators according to the number of subscribers.
18m DVB-T2 STBs in 2015
The anticipated analogue switch-off in territories beyond North America and Western Europe is expected to increase the demand for DVB-T2 set-top-boxes in 2015, the next milestone year established by the ITU for switching to digital, according to ABI Research. The firm notes that a number of countries in Eastern Europe and MiddleEast Africa are hoping to satisfy this goal. With a later start to digital services, a number of countries in these regions are starting with DVB-T2, avoiding the conundrum facing established DVB-T markets looking to migrate to the newer technology. “If remaining analogue shut-off time-lines go largely as planned, we expect over 18 million DVB-T2 STBs will ship in 2015,” comments senior analyst Michael Inouye. “Other potential factors, like spectrum realloca-
tion for mobile broadband in Western Europe, might increase the demand for DVB-T2 boxes, but this likely won’t be a significant factor until the latter half, if not past the 2018 forecasting window.” While most countries have settled on a DTT technology, the path to digital is less consistent in other regions where multiple DTT technologies are present and future analogue shut-offs span a wide time-frame (2015 to 2020s). Aiding the digital transition, Pay Terrestrial DTT operators subsidise the price of freeto-air set-top boxes in order to gain subscribers . For instance, in Sub-Saharan Africa both StarTimes and GoTV (a service of Naspers, parent of MultiChoice) have launched Pay DTT platforms using a subsidised set-top box selling for about $35 while free-to-air boxes sell for approximately $60. Practice director Sam Rosen added: “Integrated televisions will certainly play a
role in digitisation, but settop boxes, by necessity, are still the driver used to fully satisfy most ASO goals. Proactive work from government agencies in the form of subsidies and consumer education remain vital components to a successful ASO, best suiting the lower cost STB as the digitisation vehicle of choice. After 2015, we do expect demand for DTT set-top boxes to decline.”
Premier League highlights behind Sun paywall
Having acquired mobile and Internet highlights rights for English Premier League football for £30m (€35m), Rupert Murdoch’s News International is to introduce a paywall for access to its Sun daily newspaper online content from August, in time for the 2013-14 season.
The move means that all News International’s UK titles have paywall-protected content, with the UK newspaper arm of News Corp already charging readers to access the Sunday Times and the Times online. Readers of The Sun will be charged £2 a week for online access, with the Sun+ offering additional benefits such as offers and promotions as well as match highlights of Premier League football. Mike Darcey, chief executive of News International, told media buyers that there was no bigger single online media opportunity in England than the Premier League. “It’s hard to overstate the value of this content. We did not buy mobile and Internet rights in order to sell mobile and internet rights. We bought them to integrate into an existing product and enhance that existing product.”
10 EUROMEDIA