russia_russia 16/01/2014 09:43 Page 7
MARKET FOCUS
low-cost DTH player
also has many
‘subscribers’, which do
not pay to receive the
service and were
therefore not included
its November 2013
European Pay TV
Operator Forecasts
report, which
suggested the operator
had 9.2m subscribers
at the end of 2012.
The research firm also
forecasts that Russia
will have 50.3m Digital TV households in
2018, with pay-TV households rising from
23.5m in 2012 to 32.3m in 2018. Pay-TV
revenues are forecast to rise from $1.254
billion to $2.217 billion over the same period.
Moscow-based J’son & Partners
Consulting has described Russia’s pay-TV
market as one of the largest in the world,
totalling 31.9m households signed up for
cable, satellite and IPTV services as of 2012.
Insider’s view
Alexandru Matei,
marketing manager Europe,
Globecast, offers some
thoughts on the market.
l Even before one considers
the CIS, it’s very clear that
Russia isn’t one single
market. Because of this it’s
equally clear that
satellite has –
and will have – a
huge role to play
in providing both
entertainment
and information
distribution
services.
Spanning 11 time
zones, having a
single approach
to these markets
is simply not viable: Russia
requires constant flexibility
and innovative service
provision.
l Through 2013 it was
interesting to note many
reports predicting growth in
a range of satellite
communications sectors
including mobile backhaul,
the giant oil and gas sectors
and also consumer satellite
broadband. With the
The firm expects the growth in pay-TV
subscriber numbers to continue and reach
40.2m households by 2017, with penetration
rate at 74%.
GROWTH. The 31.9m households
represented an 11% increase over 2011, with a
penetration rate of 58%. The biggest growth
in subscriber numbers was registered in
satellite TV and IPTV segments. During 20112012, IPTV subscriber base increased by 1.6
times. The rate of
growth of satellite
television accounted
for 20% over the same
period. According to
J’son & Partners, the
growth in the
popularity of satellite
TV is largely because it
is less expensive
compared with other
TV distribution
platforms, is
independent from
fixed-line telephony
networks, and has countrywide accessibility.
The firm also notes the growth of Tricolor TV,
reporting that the operator added the
majority of new subscribers.
The rapid growth of IPTV was a result of
the increasing proliferation rate of broadband
Internet access services, estimated by J’son &
Partners at 48% penetration in late 2012,
with VOD services and online access being
seen as the main advantages of IPTV. Among
increasing power of modern
and HD Russian and Eastern
that we will see more
satellites combined with
more cost-effective services
packages, this growth is
entirely feasible.
l It’s also the case across
Globecast’s core content
distribution business - with
offices in Moscow and a fibre
PoP in the city - that there
are significant shifts in
Russian markets.
Right across the
country both
general
entertainment
channels and
broadcasters’
own local
services prove
very popular and
also provide
reach to distant
communities. Of
course local broadcasters
continue to look to distribute
their content abroad while
international broadcasters
want to reach Russia, more
particularly the major
western markets in the
country. Globecast
distributes services on prime
satellite positions in the
region and across Western
Europe via Yamal, Eutelsat
and Astra with over 70 SD
European channels.
l As mentioned, the nature
of the Russian market means
that broadcasters and their
service providers have to be
flexi