russia_russia 16/01/2014 10:56 Page 1
Russia
Advanced Television
Market Briefing 2013
UTair expands satellite connectivity
lobal Eagle Entertainment, an
international provider of
satellite-based in-flight Wi-Fi
and device-based entertainment for
airlines around the world, and UTair
Aviation, the fastest growing airline in
the Russian Federation, have
confirmed that the airline has
expanded its contract for connectivity
services by 60 aircraft, bringing the
total to 69 aircraft to be installed with
Global Eagle’s satellite connectivity
solution.
The additional installations will
encompass 20 A321-200′s and 40
B737NG aircraft. UTair passengers
will benefit from Global Eagle’s
satellite-driven, broadband web
access and leading edge inflight
G
Russian political party
launches channel
Russia’s Liberal Democratic
Party (LDPR) is taking its
political message onto TV
with a new channel, which
went live on New Year’s Day.
Russia’s Interfax News
Agency says that LDPR’s
deputy leader Andrey
Svintsov, said that the party
had been
waiting a year
for a
transmission
licence.
Svintsov
told journalists
that the new
channel would
be “Normal
and honest...
We know that many media
outlets edit out or
misrepresent our party's
activity, that is why we have
taken this decision and
created a full-fledged TV
entertainment and media content.
“UTair is an innovative airline
aggressively building significant traffic
in Russia, Central Asia, and Europe and
we are honoured to be a part of that
international growth,” said John
LaValle, chief executive officer of
Global Eagle Entertainment. “As a
global provider, these markets
represent key growth areas for our
company as we capitalise on our Kuband satellite technology and industry-
channel. We have been
broadcasting for a year on
the Internet, on the LDPR.TV
website, and from 1 January
we are present in cable and
satellite channel packages,"
he said.
Young Russians favour
ad-supported video
Russia's VK social media
platform has five
times the unique
users of
Facebook, which
could be a result
of its access to
pirated movies.
Although
Facebook may be
the world’s largest
social media
platform with more than a
billion unique users, in
Russia the website boasts
just 20% of the unique users
afforded the country’s
preferred social media
leading media content resources. We
look forward to delivering a robust
content and connectivity platform to
UTair’s passengers, helping to
differentiate the airline and build new
revenue streams.”
According to several polls conducted
earlier this year, Internet usage in
Russia has grown in the last decade
and quite significantly in the past few
years. Levada Center’s poll found that
over 80% of students, senior managers,
directors and leading specialists
regularly surf the Web. UTair
recognises the desire by travellers to be
connected and entertained inflight and
wishes to provide their passengers with
an unparalleled in-flight connectivity
and entertainment experience.
platform, VK, with a reported
50m users.
VK reportedly turns a blind
eye to pirated movies, while
coveting online dating —
both major draws to the
targeted youth demo. VK’s
catalogue of
pirated movies
(especially new
releases) is
huge,
according to
Jamie Bartlett,
director of the
centre for the analysis of
social media at the think tank
Demos.
The Motion Picture
Association of America has
long included Russia on its
list of piracy havens —
notably for pirated DVDs, a
situation that hasn’t changed
with digital distribution.
The MPAA considers
Russia a “notorious market,”
where illegally downloaded
US movies are reported to be
in excess of 31mcopies
annually. According to the
International Intellectual
Property Alliance Indeed,
there wasn’t a single Internet
piracy criminal case filed in
Russia in 2012.
in mid-2013, President
Putin signed a
law making it
harder for
Russian
websites to
offer pirated
movies and TV
shows. That
move has helped Ivi.ru
become viewed as the 'Netflix
of Russia'. The service claims
to have 17 million members
who largely opt for free, adsupported video similar to
Hulu. Just 10% of its
members use the
subscription streaming
service, a disincentive for
companies such as Netflix,
Amazon.com or Hulu to
expand their Internet
entertainment streaming
services there.
Published by Advanced Television Ltd, www.advanced-television.com