russia_russia 16/01/2014 09:43 Page 4
History débuts in Russia
lobal media content
company A+E Networks has
launched its History channel
in Russia. History and History HD
have launched on pay-TV platform
NTV+, and have been rolled out on
triple play operator Rostelecom’s
networks.
“The roll-out of History in Russia
marks an important milestone for A+E
Networks,” said Dean Possenniskie,
managing director, Europe. “Russia is an
important territory for us and we’re
looking forward to bringing the highest
quality factual entertainment to the
market.”
History is the leading ad-supported
entertainment cable network in the US
among men 25-54. Year-to-date, History has
G
Tvigle: TV content
needs new business
models
Media companies need to
build sustainable business
models to encourage new
talent to create professional
content for new media
distribution channels, as the
current linear television
model is likely to disappear
within a decade, according to
Egor Yakovlev, founder and
CEO of Tvigle Media, Russia’s
leading online broadcaster.
Yakovlev told TechCrunch
Moscow that the challenge
for the industry was to build
new business models that
allowed young people to
shoot a new House, M.D. or a
new Game of Thrones, not
for classical linear TV
channels but for new
distribution models, and in a
way that would compensate
the expenses that they
incur.”
Traditional television
models have been disrupted
by the explosive growth of
8 RUSSIA Briefing
on-demand services online.
Previously TV and online
were two separate worlds,
but there are no longer any
borders between the two,
according to Yakovlev.
“In 10 years there will be
no linear TV except for a few
things, like football, which
people will watch online, the
inauguration of the president
and the next Royal Wedding.
Everything else will be VoD,”
Yakovlev predicted. “From a
content point of view, 80 per
cent of content currently
being produced for classical
TV channels will completely
disappear.”
According to Yakovlev,
Tvigle is ready to invest
“hundreds of thousands” of
dollars in producing new
content. Yet while online
broadcasters enjoy much
lower production costs than
their traditional TV
counterparts, one of their
biggest challenges is finding
talented people to produce
content that engages online
audiences. “Just because the
cost of producing books is
currently zero, that doesn’t
mean there are more
Tolstoys or Dostoevskys
around,” Yakovlev argued.
12 primetime series averaging over one
million A25-54 impressions and 10 over one
million A18-49 – more than any other
network in US cable. History is a top three
factual network in most markets across the
Americas, Europe and Asia-Pacific. In Harris
Interactive’s 2013 EquiTrend tracking study,
History received the ‘Brand of the Year’ award
for factual entertainment, the second
consecutive year the channel captured this
title.
“We’re excited to launch History in
Russia and to be working with our launch
partners,” said Liz Higgins, director,
strategy and business development,
Europe.
History is available in more than 330m
households in 160+ territories and 39
languages worldwide .
US copyright holders
highlight worst pirate
sites
The International Intellectual
Property Alliance (IIPA) has
published its response on
the Special 301 Report –
2013 (annual review issued
by US Trade Representative
Office on copyrights
infringement in global
terms) addressed to USTRO.
The letter contains an
extended list of sites
referred to as piracy
resources by the Alliance;
besides it also lists physical
markets trading in piracy
products.
The letter provided
examples of online and
physical markets for
products distribution where )