A brief overview of paid providers of Internet-independent IPTV (OTT TV) providers. Satellite (paid) TVRussian market

Good day, Habrocommunity. I came across the idea of ​​connecting a good high speed internet for home to watch independent of the Internet IPTV provider(OTT TV). IPTV from two Internet providers which were not satisfactory. The first one had 19 channels. The second one had 38, but they could only be viewed through a browser. I wanted to find some paid independent supplier IPTV services(OTT TV) (and not collect free playlists on the Internet that are banned every day) to upload his playlist to VLC media player and live happily, having high-speed Internet and paid IPTV (OTT TV), independent of the Internet provider.

I found 4 such independent IPTV (OTT TV) service providers:

About company:
Head office in London, and tech. support in Germany. In addition to classic IPTV on a computer, it also sells its set-top boxes for TVs (the delivery of which you pay for yourself).

It is possible to get a free trial access for 3 days (http://kartina.tv/glossary.php?id=17). If previously it was sent to email (after authorization via social networks), now you need to get a scratch card, erase the protective layer and activate the promo code. Scratch cards are provided only by promoters and distributors.

Number of channels:
145 channels, 17 radio stations + video library (in which there are not many films and mostly not top new releases)

Prices:
Annual subscription is 174 euros (which is approximately equal to 7609 rubles per year / 634 rubles per month).
Plus another 54 euros (which is approximately equal to 2361 rubles) for the cheapest TV set-top box (if you need one).

What's the result:
There are only three ways to view:
1) Via browser

Screenshot in spoiler:

But looking through the browser is somehow inconvenient in my opinion; the feeling of something not right remains.
2) Through your own IPTV player for your computer (KartinaTV Player)

Screenshot in spoiler:

3) Through your own IPTV player for devices on iOS / Android (and after reading negative reviews about it, you can conclude that there are only two ways to watch)

I wrote in those. support for Kartina TV, the question is how to open their IPTV in VLC media player, but they technically shaved me off: “Theoretically, this can probably be done, but you will need to configure VLC media player yourself.”

About company:
Again, the company is not local, it is located somewhere in Germany.

Free trial access (though only for 5 channels).

Number of channels:
Approximately 32 channels + video library

Prices:
Annual subscription is 92.88 euros (which is approximately equal to 4061 rubles per year / 338 rubles per month).

What's the result:
The number of channels is rather poor.

One way to view is through a browser only. At first I read the instructions for installing VLC media player on their website, but this was only so that the browser would pick up the plugin from it. In a word, you can’t watch through VLC media player.

Screenshot in spoiler:

About company:
Located somewhere in the USA. The service is not provided in Russia (but those who want can bypass it - judging by the forums). Mostly they sell their TV set-top boxes.

Number of channels:
According to the advertisement on the site, there are more than 500+ video libraries (but in reality there will probably also be about 150 useful ones). I couldn't find an exact list of channels.

Prices:
The cheapest set-top box + 1 year of viewing costs $326.63 (which is approximately equal to 10,484 rubles per year / 873 rubles per month)

What's the result:
Again, viewing only through the browser (without looking at the TV set-top box). Again, you can’t watch through VLC media player (although they require you to install it for the plugin).

Screenshot in spoiler:

There may be problems when paying from Russia.

About company:
The company is located in Florida, USA. The service does not work in Russia, Ukraine and CIS countries. As the girl consultant said: “This is due to problems with the legislation of your country.” Of course, theoretically, you can use different proxy servers and redirect traffic, but this is already overkill.

Number of channels:
Approximately 200 channels (according to them, since I was not able to see the full list)

Prices:
Annual subscription is $143.99 (which is approximately equal to 4622 rubles per year / 385 rubles per month).

What's the result:
And again, the ability to view only through the browser (although you need to install VLC media player in order to install the plugin for it).

Addition 1) Raketa-TV

(http://raketa-tv.com)(Feedback from)

About company:
Works through ACE Stream Media (needs to be installed). There is free viewing through a browser (when registering on the site, additional channels are added) and a VIP subscription (with it: 1 - all advertising is removed from the site; 2 - it becomes possible to view on various devices; 3 - channel buffering is accelerated, i.e. should not slow down).

Number of channels:
Approximately 200

Prices:
2.99 euros (approximately 134 rubles) for a monthly VIP subscription
35.88 euros (approximately 1617 rubles) for an annual VIP subscription

What's the result:
In essence, it is a torrent TV, where users themselves broadcast their channels (broadcasts) to each other. All this is buffered and distributed to others. When purchasing a VIP subscription, you can view it on various devices besides the browser (VLC media player, Samsung Smart TV, Android, Apple (OS X), Linux, Dune HD, MAG 250/Aura HD, Dreambox). The playlist works through Proxy. Every couple of minutes it slows down slightly. Since I use free viewing through a browser, I can’t say whether this slowdown will go away when I purchase a VIP subscription. But even just by registering on the site, you will have a sick number of channels.

Screenshot in spoiler:

Addition 2) Pro-tv.net

(http://pro-tv.net)(Feedback from a colleague at work)

About company:
Broadcasts channel streams that are distributed by people or someone else through a browser.

Prices:
Free viewing.

What's the result:
Viewing via browser only. There are no other alternatives.

Screenshot in spoiler:

Addendum 3) Zargacum.net

(http://zargacum.net)(Feedback from a colleague at work)

About company:
A colleague recommended it because they still have a free beta test of IPTV. Need to register.

Number of channels:
68

Prices:
Listed on the website.

What's the result:
1) Works through a browser.

Screenshot in spoiler:

2) It also works great through VLC media player through a playlist (generated on the site).

Conclusions:

In the comments you can see “real” and “live” feedback from Habr users, which contains a lot of interesting and truly good decisions. Unfortunately, there is practically no free time to consider them all. For this reason, I have simply added them to the post as a list below. Many thanks to everyone who wrote in the comments.

Instructions

There are many craftsmen who find different ways to decode and view paid channels. One of these methods is channel emulation. Most modern receivers are equipped with software with emulators. The only thing that is needed in this case is with the help special code go to the closed section of the menu and register the keys there.

But this method is very imperfect. After all, if a package of paid TV channels changes the encoding algorithm, then anyone trying to crack the encoding will be disappointed. Either he will not be able to hack it at all, or it will be unprofitable for him. If the keys are updated every 10 seconds, then viewing “hacked” ones in this way will be impossible.

Recently, cardsharing has been gaining popularity. This method is very simple, but to implement it you need to constantly keep the receiver connected to the Internet. The method of communication with the World Wide Web depends on.

While receiving an encrypted signal from a satellite, certain requests are sent from time to time by the transmitting side. They must be decoded by the paid official card according to a certain algorithm. In this way, keys are obtained, which are then transferred to the receiver. Without receiving the key at all or receiving the wrong one, the receiver will not be able to decode the channel. Cardsharing uses a method of transferring the necessary keys, in which the key is sent to the receiver over the network through a cardsharing server.

Sources:

• how to connect paid channels

Watching paid satellite channels can be done legally and not entirely in a legal way, the latter is not persecuted in Russia. In the first case, it is enough to have a satellite receiver recommended by the TV provider, in the second, a DVB card for a computer or a firmware tuner and a terrestrial Internet connection. This is necessary to receive decoding keys from the cardsharing server.

You will need

• - DVB card;
• - plugin csc 4.0.0.2;
• - access card.

Instructions

Install a DVB card like SkyStar 2 into the slot motherboard computer. Before doing this, install software for it on your PC. Install the ProgDVB program on your computer. Configure DiSEqC parameters, if available, or specify a satellite. Download the csc 4.0.0.2 plugin from the Internet and unpack the archive into the ProgDVB root folder, then move the msvcr70.dll file to the WINDOWSSYSTEM32 directory, do not copy, otherwise, if it hangs in the same place, the program will not start. Check the installation, to do this, run ProgDVB, go to the “Plugins” menu. The CardServer Client section should appear in it.

Configure the plugin. To do this, run the ProgDVB program. Connect to the cardsharing server and get connection parameters. Go to the “Plugins” menu, then “CardServer Client” and “Configure Server”. Enter the following values ​​in the window that opens: Protocol - newcamd525; User name - login for access to sharing; Password - password for access to sharing; Card Server IP Address - 81.ХХХ.ХХХ.ХХХ, where “X” is the address of the server balls; Port - connection port (will be specified during connection); Optional Parameters – 0102030405060708091011121314, without spaces.

Click successively on the “Add Item” and “Save Configuration” buttons, the window should close. Configuration is complete. Connect to the Internet via landline - ADSL, GPRS, Wi-Fi, etc. For example, if you purchased the NTV+ channel package, then after pointing and configuring your PC to the Eutelsat W4/W7 36E satellite, scan its transponders. Save them and they will appear on the left side of the ProgDVB window. Turn on the desired channel, hover over it in the program's TV window on the right. Click right button mouse and select Channel Property. In the table that appears, double-click on the required CA type (ID), which is issued upon connection. Click "Apply" and "OK". The picture will appear in a few seconds.

Set up paid channels on the receiver. To do this, purchase a satellite tuner with a CI slot for access cards. Connect to your TV provider and buy this card from them. Insert it into the slot and tune the receiver to the desired satellite.

Installing a satellite dish gives you access to a huge number of television channels that you never imagined existed. But what to do if, among hundreds of extra channels didn't find the one you need most? It turns out the situation can be improved.

Instructions

Not the best in terms of material costs, but effective method increase the number of TV channels - add another dish. Attach the additional antenna next to the existing one, configure it and connect the linear converter to the switch (disek) to which the existing antenna is connected. Thus, additional signal after appropriate settings will be received by your TV.

According to J"son & Partners, the volume of the pay TV market in Russia in 2010 compared to the previous year will grow by 14%, from 830 million to 950 million dollars. At the same time, the pay TV subscriber base in Russia in 2009 amounted to a respectable 14 .5 million subscribers. Interestingly, on a global scale, the fastest growing segment in the pay TV market is IPTV (22% over the previous year), followed by satellite television. This trend is explained by the versatility of Internet connection and its convenience for subscribers: together with television brings IP telephony and Internet access to the home. Georgy Shabanov, head of the home video and film distribution department of the New Disk company, notes that the development of the Russian market is hampered by the low penetration of the Internet throughout Russia as a whole, but in the near future broadband Internet will become available even in the outback.So far, the satellite television segment has been growing most actively in Russia, although mainly due to the operator Tricolor TV, whose subscriber base in 2009 grew from 4.3 million to 6.2 million users. The potential of satellite television lies in its comprehensiveness - to receive the signal, it is enough to have a “dish” with accompanying equipment.

The potential of the Russian pay television market is largely hidden in the nature of the consumer habits of Russians. “This is due to problems in their heads; viewers are not used to paying for television, which was usually provided to them for free,” says Sergei Zonenlikht, Editor-in-Chief of the Directorate of Programs and Channels at NTV Plus. It is obvious that we are now at the very beginning of the development of a culture of using paid channels. Recent innovations in entertainment, namely HDTV, or television, may spur interest. high definition, and 3D TV. According to Zonenlicht, the most promising and “real” of all the currently existing new products is HDTV. And cellular operators, faced with the task of filling broadband 3G and 4G data channels, will do their best to develop mobile television. Mobile television is a service that provides the opportunity to owners of cell phones or other mobile devices connected to a cellular telephone network, watch television programs and broadcasts delivered via mobile telecommunications networks online. To deliver content to the user's mobile phone, a GPRS connection, 3G network, 4G - Mobile WiMAX or Wi-Fi can be used. This technology was first launched in South Korea in 2005.

In general, the Russian pay television market is developing in line with foreign trends. Therefore, you can get a picture of the future by looking at the developed markets of Europe, the USA, and Asia. Christopher Schouten, director of advanced product marketing at Irdeto, a media content distribution and protection solutions company, says we're all about to see a shift toward continuous consumption of personalized content based on the recommendations of our environment.

He refers to these trends as Triple Screen, Social TV and Media 3.0. In other words, the subscriber will be able to watch the same programs at home, while traveling, at work, use recommendations and recommend this or that series or show to his community. This will become possible, among other things, thanks to the process of merging telecom, Internet and television operators. As Schouten notes, in Russia the launch of 4G networks is paralleling the expansion of 3G, which over time will give our country a state-of-the-art communications infrastructure that is superior to its counterparts in many Western countries.

The dynamic development of the market may be hampered by television piracy, or unauthorized access to the TV signal. In Russia, this is the main obstacle to the development of the media industry. The aforementioned Irdeto and other companies are developing appropriate solutions, but proper development of the market, and therefore improving the quality and availability of services, cannot be achieved without appropriate government assistance. So, having overcome piracy, for the 100th anniversary of television, Russians will have a wide variety of programs available at home on big screen and on the road to mobile devices, equipped with recommendations from the TV community.

Entry into the pay television market.

Experts differ in their assessments of the pay television market, but talk about the prospects of investing in cable, satellite and Internet television. Investors should especially take a closer look at the content production market. Content (eng. content) - any informationally significant content information resource(for example, a website) - all information that the user can copy (download) to a computer disk in compliance with the relevant laws, as a rule, only for personal use:

• texts
• graphics: pictures, photos, drawings, interface elements
• multimedia: audio, video files
• files in the following format: Adobe, Excel, Word, Power Point, exe, rar, etc.

VGTRK (All-Russian State Television and Radio Broadcasting Company) launched a non-terrestrial news channel “Vesti 24” a couple of years ago. Channel One already produces five non-terrestrial TV channels on various topics and is preparing about 20 more. Top managers of television companies CTC Media and TNT also announced their readiness to produce non-terrestrial TV. The most expensive segment for investment is the satellite TV segment, the number of subscribers of which in the spring of 2007 was 513 thousand people. The cost of attracting one subscriber from satellite TV operators is $50-100. Until recently, the satellite TV market was actually represented only by NTV-Plus, a subsidiary of the Gazprom-Media holding.

At the end of the first half of 2007, the operator's revenue was $119 million. Analyst Elena Krylova claims that the main event of 2007 for satellite TV was the emergence of competitors to NTV-plus - the operators Tricolor TV and Orion Express. Experts say their advantage is low cost for subscribers, while NTV-plus packages are designed for the premium segment. In addition, in the Far East, NTV Plus will begin broadcasting only one channel at the end of the year - “Our Football”, while, for example, “Orion Express” covers the whole of Russia. The IP-TV segment is the most active in the pay television market. Elena Krylova notes an increase in the number of companies providing this service. Program director of the Comstar Direct company (Stream brand) Merab Gabunia, among the advantages, names the possibility of introducing additional services on the IP-TV platform that generate income for the operator and increase the average monthly income per subscriber, as well as less expensive implementation and implementation compared to other technologies. infrastructure development.

The main problem of Russian pay TV, according to the general opinion of experts, is the lack of quality content. The operators NTV-plus and Stream-TV have their own production, and the operators produce channels not only for their own needs, but also for sale to cable networks. The production of content for pay TV in Russia is at the initial stage, says Merab Gabunia, but this process is developing, and quantity is gradually developing into quality. “In order not to miss out on the market, investors must “catch” this moment of transition,” he says. “Then they will be able to control the process of qualitative transformation and, in fact, the development of the Russian content market.”

Paid impression

The pay television market has not suffered much from the crisis. In difficult times, people prefer to save on more expensive entertainment and stay at home. Pay television in Russia finds it difficult to compete with free television. The latter has an extensive infrastructure since Soviet times, allowing it to broadcast a television signal throughout almost the entire territory of Russia. Today, two Russian state channels - Channel One and Rossiya (VGTRK) cover 99 and 95% of the territory of the Russian Federation, respectively, accumulating almost half of the country’s entire television audience. The indicators of other mass channels are also quite impressive: NTV covers 75% of the territory of Russia, “Culture”, “Sport”, “TV-Center” - approximately 50%. In total, the majority of the population of the Russian Federation has the opportunity to watch at least a dozen shows pay TV channels. However, paid operators today are able to offer up to 200 TV channels in one package. And people are increasingly taking advantage of the opportunity to significantly diversify their home TV menu: in recent years, the number of pay TV subscribers in Russia has grown by 15-25% per year (see Chart 1); according to recent studies, about 20 million households now use pay TV subscriptions . In monetary terms, the market volume grew even more dynamically - by 35-40% per year, reaching $1 billion in 2008 (see Chart 2).

To the delight of market participants, the crisis only stopped, but did not stop, the growth in the number of pay TV subscribers. “Despite the financial storms, the television access market turned out to be quite crisis-resistant,” says Mikhail Silin, vice president for strategic planning of the Akado group of companies and vice president of the Russian Cable Television Association. — This is due to the fact that pay television services are relatively inexpensive compared to other entertainment. And during times of crisis, people prefer affordable entertainment at home. Therefore, the subscriber base of pay TV channels is increasing.” In addition, companies offering cable television also provide Internet access services, the demand for which, despite the crisis, is only growing.

However, it is not worth asserting that everything is completely smooth for television access operators. Firstly, they were hit hard by the devaluation of the ruble. This is due to the fact that about 20-30% of the total costs of large operators come from licensing fees for television content, which is purchased mainly abroad for hard currency. Market participants say that many operators are now negotiating with Western copyright holders to get a discount on the purchase of many programs, explaining the need for discounts by the fact that in ruble terms prices for foreign programs have increased, and subscription fee Operators cannot raise it for fear of losing subscribers.

Another negative factor for the market is that due to the decreased availability of credit funds, operators are forced to curtail investment programs. However, in the current conditions this turned out to be not so scary. “With the onset of the crisis, most pay TV operators curtailed their investment programs, and the geographic expansion of the market stopped. Nevertheless, market growth will continue, although not at such a high pace, says Elena Krylova, an analyst at iKS-Consulting. — The reason is that over the previous two years, almost all of the largest market participants have completed the formation of their networks in key regions, so that over the next two to three years they have the opportunity to grow on the existing infrastructure by improving the subscriber service system, optimizing content, growth of labor productivity." In addition, in times of crisis, pay television provider companies will be forced to more actively engage in digitalization of existing networks, which will provide expanded access for content producers to potential audiences. And another market innovation is associated with the devaluation of the ruble and the rise in price paid content for providers. In response to this, cable companies are reprogramming packages towards free content, which they provide more often Russian companies who expect to make money from advertising. From a market perspective, this makes cable television cheaper and expands demand. Thus, all trends indicate that the crisis will accelerate the liberalization of the television market and lead to the rapid formation of content producing companies.

Cable or satellite?

There are many good and different channels. Pay television has ceased to be a luxury for Russians. Now 20 million families pay for a TV signal - they watch TV via satellite or cable. In large cities, a conventional antenna is being abandoned more often. In Moscow, for example, this is eight out of ten people. “The potential of the Russian paid market is quite large, because penetration is not yet high enough. There is room to grow, there is room to develop, and, according to our estimates, for example, even the world market is developing almost 2 times slower than the Russian market,” says Leila Giniatulina, leading consultant in the field of pay television “J"son&Partners Consulting.” The competition for viewers is high. Operators are building networks, connecting new cities, more and more TV channels are appearing. The “distribution of forces” between cable and satellite is approximately the same. 53% of subscribers versus 45. In small towns and villages it is easier to deliver a satellite TV signal. Cable networks are more often laid in large populated areas. "The cable television service has a number of undeniable advantages over satellite television. This is, first of all, that when connecting to TV, the subscriber does not need to buy additional equipment, i.e. decoders, dishes. In addition, the majority cable operators provide broadband Internet access services, which satellite operators do not provide,” says Elena Krylova, senior consultant at IKS-Consulting. Even the crisis did not affect the pay television market. Sales of dishes and television packages were growing - unlike, for example, mobile phones. The income of cable operators in 2009 increased by 15%. The main share is shared by the five largest companies.

• The National Telecommunications Group is the leader in the market of cable television operators in Russia, with three and a half million subscribers.
• Comstar - in TV cable several dozen cities, almost one million seven hundred thousand subscribers.
• ER-Telecom company - 20 cities, more than a million subscribers.
• Multiregion Holding - purchased by MTS in mid-July, 860 thousand subscribers.
• Akado is the largest digital cable television operator, its priorities are Moscow, more than half a million subscribers.

The largest player in the Russian cable market is the National Telecommunications group. It includes the National Cable Networks company, the Moscow operator Mostelecom, and the St. Petersburg TKT. In Moscow, the company is developing a large-scale citywide cable television project. They are modernizing old antennas, building modern fiber-optic networks and connecting subscribers to an expanded social package - 36 TV channels. “Of the three million subscribers that we were supposed to rebuild, we are almost all three million subscribers, subscribers - meaning households, we rebuilt them. Therefore, now residents of almost all of Moscow have access to almost 40 channels through a regular TV outlet,” explains CEO OJSC National Cable Networks Sergey Kalugin. National Cable Networks announced last week that it would switch to digital standard broadcasting. In Moscow, you will have to compete with Akado. ER-Telecom plans to double its broadcast geography by the end of next year. And the Multiregion holding was recently purchased by MTS. The transaction amount is $120 million. There is something to fight for in the television market. In 2009, Russians paid 27 billion rubles for a TV signal. In 2010 the amount could reach 30 billion.

The main reason that cable is gradually taking over the pay TV market is that in large Russian cities, operators of this type of access have managed to create a developed infrastructure: most large cities of the Russian Federation have a penetration rate of cable TV services of over 50%, cities with a population of over a million (Moscow , St. Petersburg, Kazan, Ufa, etc.) can boast a penetration of over 80%. And in many cases, connecting to the cable operator’s infrastructure is cheaper and more convenient for the subscriber. “Until recently, the satellite television segment showed strong growth dynamics, primarily due to demand in regions where terrestrial and cable TV are inaccessible or not available at all due to objective reasons (climate, landscape, lack of a developed telecommunications system). This could not help but make satellite TV popular and attractive for investment,” says Denis Chekurashvili, an analyst at the consulting company J"son & Partners. “However, now, when household incomes are falling, a potential subscriber, given a choice between cable and satellite, is more likely to choose cable. Judge for yourself. : if the cost of a subscription to a package of cable TV programs is on average about 80-150 rubles per month, and a one-time connection fee is about 1-1.5 thousand rubles, and increasingly free of charge, then the installation of satellite equipment alone will cost five -six times more expensive. Add to this the cost of a monthly subscription, which is also usually more expensive for satellite channels, and you will understand why cable TV is in priority demand."

However, obvious advantage cable television does not mean that satellite dishes will soon move to museum shelves. “In the coming years, satellite and cable television will develop their niches,” says Mikhail Silin from Akado. — Cable television will take over the urban environment, satellite television will be distributed only outside the city - where it is difficult and unprofitable to lay infrastructure. Although, for example, in the USA, most suburban areas are covered by cable networks. However, in Russia, with its geography, one should not count on full coverage by cable networks in the near future, and this leaves room for the development of satellite access services.” It is worth mentioning separately about the so-called IPTV, or, as it is also called, Internet television, which in terms of the number of subscribers now occupies 1% of the market (see Chart 2). The main difference between IP television is that the television signal is delivered not through a satellite dish or cable network, but through IP data networks. Companies specializing in Internet access services (Stream, Central Telegraph, Corbina Telecom) are now providing this type of service. Two years ago, IPTV was predicted to have a great future, but the crisis was aggravated by its main limiting factor - the development of high-speed data transmission infrastructure. To provide Internet television services you need broadband fast network, which is now available to no more than one fifth of all Russian households, and many investment programs aimed at its development have been frozen due to the crisis.

Growth will continue

According to most observers, in the near future pay television services in Russia will develop at a fairly high pace. According to pessimistic forecasts, the growth of the subscriber base in the current and next years could reach 10%. Optimistic people talk about the possibility of a 20 percent increase. Among other things, the demand and growth in the number of users of pay TV services are also related to the fact that over the past year or two its operators have been quite successful in coping with the shortage of television content (after all, three years ago, pay TV subscribers received 40-50 channels, but now - many times more). “The situation with the lack of content is being corrected literally before our eyes,” comments Elena Krylova from iKS-Consulting. — Growing competition forces manufacturers to look for new niches and topics. The experience of creating our own fairly high-quality products can be called successful - for example, some Russian business or hobby-oriented channels have already become among the most popular, along with foreign ones Discovery and Animal Planet.”

The near future and competition for clients among operators are also associated with the prospect of implementation advanced technologies, primarily digital broadcasting. Now digital signal can be used by every fourth pay TV subscriber (about 5 million viewers). And digital broadcasting is not only more high quality“pictures” and multi-channel sound. These technologies open up wide possibilities for the operator in terms of providing various additional services. These include services such as “Video on Demand” - when the subscriber receives a film that is interesting to him to watch. Important new service many also call broadcasting in high definition television (HDTV) format, when the detail of the “picture” is modern TV increases significantly. Here’s another notable service that a number of operators intend to introduce in the near future: the creation of an individual subscriber profile. In this case computer system monitors the content of the channels that the viewer most often watches. And if, for example, a subscriber is crazy about football matches, the system automatic mode will offer to watch an important game that will start in, say, half an hour.

In the medium term, the future of the pay television market is also associated with the government-approved program for Russia’s transition to digital broadcasting. As is known, it should happen before 2015. As a result, the number of channels available for free viewing throughout almost the entire territory of Russia will increase to two dozen in the most remote regions. However, market participants so far say that development free access is unlikely to cause serious harm to their business. “Twenty channels is, of course, a lot,” they say. “But compared to two hundred channels and numerous interactive services, pay TV will certainly have a serious competitive advantage and attract more subscribers.”

TelecomDaily: Penetration of pay TV services exceeded 75%

The total number of pay TV subscribers in Russia at the end of 2018 amounted to 43.385 million households. The annual increase was 1,255,000 households (in 2017 the increase was 930,000), and the quarterly increase was 330 thousand subscribers. Penetration of pay TV services exceeded 75%. At the same time, the average bill per subscriber (ARPU) was 175 rubles. per month, the information and analytical agency TelecomDaily shared the data on January 30, 2019.

Almost the entire volume of new connections, more than 90%, in the fourth quarter came from the top five largest operators on the market.

TMT Consulting notes that the growth of the subscriber base in the pay TV market continues to slow down: the growth in 2018 was 2.1% versus 3.6% in 2017. However, revenue dynamics remain stable (in 2017 it was 10.6%). The agency attributes this to the fact that some operators have raised the cost of subscription fees, and their clients began to consume more additional services: video on demand, delayed viewing, and so on. In addition, some market players have changed the methodology for calculating revenue (the TMT Consulting report does not contain information about which companies are being discussed and how the methodology was changed).

In general, according to preliminary data from TMT Consulting, the growth dynamics of the Russian telecommunications market in Russia at the end of 2018 will be 3.4% (the highest dynamics in the last five years), and its volume will reach 1.70 trillion rubles. At the same time, in 2018, providers’ income from the provision of fixed telephony services (minus 8.4%) and inter-operator services (minus 5.8%) decreased, but the segments of mobile communications and Internet access continue to grow - by 5% and 3.2 % respectively.

The authorities obliged satellite operators to work in the outback for free

The corresponding document in the form of amendments to the Law “On Communications” was submitted to parliament by a number of deputies, including Deputy Speaker Pyotr Tolstoy, Evgeny Revenko and the head of the State Duma Committee on information policy, information technology and connections of Leonid Levin. In the past, Tolstoy and Revenko were presenters on federal television channels.

The bill prohibits satellite television operators from refusing residents settlements who are deprived of the opportunity to receive a digital terrestrial TV signal, enter into free contracts for viewing and listening to mandatory all-Russian public television and radio channels and channels broadcast through digital multiplexes throughout the country.

Which channels in the outback can be watched for free? Required public channels are the channels included in the first digital television multiplex. These are 10 TV channels: Channel One, Russia 1, Russia 24, Russia K, Match TV, NTV, TV Center, Karusel, Public Russian Television and Channel Five. . The same multiplex includes the radio stations Mayak, Yunost and Radio Russia. The second multiplex includes 10 more TV channels: Ren TV, STS, TV-3, Spas, TNT, MuzTV, Mir, Zvezda, Pyatnitsa and Domashny.

2017

J'son & Partners Consulting

Russian pay TV operators are actively developing additional services- this is confirmed by the data from the J’son & Partners Consulting report. According to it, pay television revenue from providing basic services TV broadcasting in the country reached 83.4 billion rubles in 2017 - this is 8.8% more than in 2016. The share of additional services in company revenues is still small - just over 4%, but the segment is noticeably accelerating growth. Thus, total revenue from additional pay television services in Russia is estimated at 3.8 billion rubles, which is 40.7% more than the previous year.

The structure of the pay TV market by type of signal delivery is gradually changing. The share of satellite TV remained virtually unchanged (39.6% in 2017 compared to 39.8% in 2016). But cable TV is losing its share to IPTV. Their shares in 2017 were 42.6% and 17.7%, respectively, while a year earlier the ratio was slightly different - 44.4% and 15.8%.

Compared to 2016, the shares of Rostelecom, Tricolor TV, MTS and ER-Telecom in the total subscriber base increased. Moreover, for the first three operators this happened due to attracting new subscribers, while ER-Telecom increased the number of subscribers primarily due to the active purchase of telecom operators in the regions. More than half of the market is occupied by the two largest players - Tricolor TV (29.3%) and Rostelecom (23.3%), while the share of the third largest player - ER-Telecom - is only 7.7%.

TelecomDaily

Results of the year

2015

iKS-Consulting

The main players with a share of the subscriber base of more than 5% are Tricolor, Rostelecom, MTS, ER-Telecom and Orion-Express. The subscriber base of the market leader Tricolor TV reached 11.8 million subscribers, which is 881 thousand more households than at the end of 2014. TOP 5 providers with

The active growth of digital TV with a decrease in analogue connections is one of the main market trends recent years. As a result, as of the end of 2015, about 61% of the total number of pay TV subscribers use digital TV services.

Such a rapid movement towards digital TV is associated with the development of new technologies (IPTV, OTT), cheaper digital TV equipment, provided by many operators with the possibility of renting it or free use, and also due to the widespread availability of satellite TV.

J'son & Partners Consulting

In 2015, the pay TV subscriber base in Russia grew to 39.8 million subscribers.

The main contribution was made by satellite TV (+8% of new subscribers) and IPTV (+23.9%). According to the baseline forecast, these segments will continue to grow until 2020: satellite dishes due to the lack of alternatives outside cities, and IPTV due to increasing penetration of broadband Internet access. The share of cable TV will decrease, while within the segment, subscribers will switch from analogue to digital TV signals.

In the fight for subscribers in 2015, large operators used aggressive marketing campaigns, bundling large quantity services in one offer and discounts on promotions. But the main argument for the viewer continues to be a large set of TV channels (the operator’s maximum offer is 276) and the presence of HD versions (up to 60). The number of viewers of HD channels grew by 40% over the year and amounted to 14.3 million households.

The operators that attracted the most new subscribers were Tricolor-TV and Rostelecom. As a result, they now account for more than half of all pay TV subscribers in Russia (Fig. 2). At the same time, due to different tariff policies, the Top 5 ranking of operators by revenue looks different:

• Rostelecom.
• Tricolor-TV.
• Er-Telecom.
• NTV Plus

The total revenue of operators from the provision of pay TV services increased in 2015 by 5% and reached 69.8 billion rubles.

TV content market

Television channels underwent a significant transformation in the analyzed year due to new legislative norms. As a result of mergers, acquisitions and consolidations, there were 18 aggregators and distributors. Three of them are the largest in terms of the number of channels (National Media Group, Gazprom-Media and Signal Media). The total number of non-terrestrial channels available in the country is 363, of which more than 80% are distributed on a paid basis.

Forecasts for the development of the pay TV industry

The Russian pay TV market will continue to grow in the coming years, both in subscribers and revenue. Experts from J"son & Partners Consulting predict the average annual growth rate of revenue for the entire market for the period until 2020 to be no higher than 2-3%, which is due to a decrease in the growth rate of the subscriber base, a decrease in real disposable income of the population and active competition among operators.

Increasing operator income is possible, first of all, through the development of additional services, such as VOD (video on demand), Timeshift (delayed viewing) or Multiroom (connecting several TVs in a household). At the same time, services that were previously positioned as separate (for example, mobile TV) are combined into Multiscreen (the ability to watch programs and films on any device as part of a common subscription). This is a consequence of changes in consumer demand, replacement of the TV fleet (increasing share of SmartTV) and an increase in the number of mobile devices.

As part of the scenario of accelerated development of the penetration of new technologies, J"son & Partners Consulting predicts that in 2019 the total number of pay TV subscribers and subscribers of OTT services may exceed the number of households in Russia.

Digital TV Research

At the end of 2015, the number of pay television subscribers in Russia was 39.5 million - this is the fourth largest figure in comparison with other countries in the world. The top three are China (263.7 million), India (148.5 million) and the USA (97.6 million). Japan closes the top five (25.1 million). This is evidenced by data from Digital TV Research.

As for Russia, it took 35th place in terms of penetration of pay TV services, and 21st in terms of income (less than $1.13 billion).

According to the study, global pay TV penetration last year rose from 40.4% in 2010 to 74.6%. During the reporting period, 584 million households in 138 countries began to use pay TV services. At the same time, the number of households connected to digital TV doubled and amounted to 1.1170 million.

Between 2010 and 2015. Digital terrestrial television (DTT) services were used by 156 million households, digital cable TV - 231 million, IPTV - 88 million, satellite TV - 67 million. The report notes that at the end of 2015, 398 million subscribers were still using analog TV services. In 2010, this figure was 863 million.

year 2014

J'son & Partners Consulting

According to analysts, this market will grow and by 2019 the number of subscribers will increase to 45.2 million households.

At the end of 2014, the Russian pay TV market consisted of 37.6 million households connected to cable, satellite and IP television technologies. According to J"son & Partners Consulting, the growth of the pay television subscriber base in Russia will continue, and by 2019 the number of subscribers will increase to 45.2 million households, and the penetration of pay television services will reach 81%.

More than half of the subscriber base is generated by the Volga and Central Federal Districts. The Central Federal District is the leader in terms of the number of pay television subscribers - 34% of the Russian market as a whole.

At the end of 2014, the volume of the Russian pay television market amounted to 66.5 billion rubles. The largest segment is cable television (RUB 32.5 billion). Revenue from satellite broadcasting services reached 22.5 billion rubles, while the income of IPTV operators approached 11.4 billion rubles.

The largest players in the Russian pay TV market at the end of 2014 are Tricolor TV (market share 29%), Rostelecom (21%), MTS (7%), ER-Telecom (7%) and Orion -Express" (7%), the study also says.

iKS-Consulting

Compared to the same period in 2013, the number of Russian pay television subscribers increased by 7% and, according to preliminary results for 2014, amounted to almost 37.5 million users. Penetration of the service amounted to 67% The drivers of market growth were:

• Growth of the subscriber base of satellite operators, which were actively developing despite difficult economic conditions
• Increasing the number of subscribers among IPTV operators - primarily at Rostelecom
• Growth in average bill per subscriber (ARPU) in the IPTV and digital cable TV segments

In 2014, an increase of 2% was shown by the largest segment of pay TV – cable television. The growth rate of cable TV is slowing down, giving way to satellite and IPTV.

It should be noted that there is a noticeable shift towards increasing the share of digital cable TV. The number of digital cable TV subscribers increased over the year by 33%, while the number of analogue cable TV subscribers decreased by 2%. This active growth of digital cable TV is due to the efforts of ER-Telecom (which released a new set-top box this year and positioned it as a competitive advantage), as well as Akado and MTS. These operators are not only actively connecting new subscribers, but also switching existing customers to digital TV, thus increasing the average bill per service consumer.

The largest increase in absolute terms – by more than 1.7 million – was the number paid subscribers satellite TV. In a number of regions, satellite TV is the predominant technology - for example, in the Southern Federal District its share is 83%. The market leader in terms of growth rates was the IPTV segment - the number of subscribers using this technology increased by 17% compared to 2013.

As a result, the market structure by technology changed noticeably over the year: The share of satellite TV increased by 1 percentage point, the share of IPTV - by 1 percentage point, and the share of cable TV decreased by 2 percentage points over the year.

In 2014, the TOP-7 pay TV operators with a subscriber base of over 1 million users had a market share of subscribers exceeding 77% of the entire market. Among the unique “records” of the past year, the following results of operators’ activities should be noted:

• The growth of the Orion-Express subscriber base amounted to 30% compared to 2013, which is 4 times more than the average market growth rate. This dynamics has brought the company closer to ER-Telecom and MTS
• MTS, which began to lose pay TV subscribers in 2013, in 2014, on the contrary, entered into a positive trend and showed excellent growth rates in one of the most competitive markets in the country - Moscow (due to increased GPON penetration)
• The NTV-Plus company, which adjusted its sales offer at the end of 2013, continued to actively increase its subscriber base in 2014 (having reached almost a million subscriber base)

According to iKS-Consulting forecasts, by the end of 2015, the pay TV market, despite the difficult economic situation, will continue to develop: the market volume will exceed 64 billion rubles, the number of subscribers will reach 38.8 million. The growth is due primarily to the fact that television remains accessible to population with the service, and in conditions of optimization family budget Russians are more likely to give up unnecessary trips to the cinema or cafe.

TMT Consulting

The volume of the pay television market in Russia in 2014 grew by 6.1% and amounted to 57 billion rubles, the subscriber base of operators increased by 8.3%, to 37.8 million households, according to data presented in a report by TMT Consulting.

According to company analysts, pay TV penetration in Russia was 68%. In 2015, the market is projected to grow by 4.2%, to 59.4 billion rubles, and the subscriber base to increase by 3.8%, to 39.2 million. Service penetration is expected to exceed 70%.

As the researchers note, the composition of the largest players did not change in 2014. The first place is occupied by Tricolor TV with 29% of the market, the second by Rostelecom (21%). Also in the top five are MTS, ER-Telecom and Orion-Express, each with approximately 7%.

At the same time, in the market structure by income, the share of cable TV is much higher (60%), which, according to researchers, is due to the low ARPU of the largest satellite TV operators. As a result of the introduction of new tariffs by NTV Plus, the ARPU of satellite TV decreased by 21% over the year, which led to a reduction in the average bill per subscriber in the market as a whole to only 131 rubles. As a result, satellite TV now accounts for 23% of revenues, IPTV – 17%.

Analysts name the development of digital broadcasting among the main trends of 2015 in the pay TV market. It is expected that by the end of 2015, the channels of the first multiplex will be able to be received by 97% of the Russian population, and therefore the growth of the satellite TV subscriber base, which previously had no alternative in remote areas, is predicted to decline.

In addition, experts expect accelerated growth digital technologies Pay TV The growth of analogue cable TV has practically stopped, and from 2015 we can expect a reduction in this segment due to the migration of subscribers to digital TV, which offers more opportunities, the report notes.

In addition, TMT Consulting predicts the spread of OTT video services. According to experts, the growth of Internet access speeds and the growing supply from OTT video service providers are leading to an increase in the popularity of the model of television and video viewing via the Internet.

Finally, analysts do not rule out that due to the ban on advertising on pay TV channels that came into force in 2015, some channels operating on an advertising model will close. Moreover, it is generally expected Negative influence the current economic situation on the Russian pay TV market. "Due to the termination of a number of agreements with foreign rights holders, we can expect a noticeable reduction in the volume of foreign content in proposals Russian operators", experts say.

year 2013

DISCOVERY Research Group

Four companies are engaged in the production of satellite antennas in Russia: AlMet, Siberian Antenna Plant, Russat, Prankor. According to experts DISCOVERY Research Group The volume of the Russian satellite antenna market at the end of 2013 amounted to 1.5 million units of products. Compared to 2012, the market size has decreased. Share of imported products on Russian market is no more than 15%. In 2013, according to a rough estimate, approximately 0.3 million satellite dishes were imported into Russia.

Half of the imports of satellite dishes come from the following manufacturers: Svec, Dolin Electronics, Variant, Openmax and Electronic Huba. The main supplier of satellite antennas to the Russian market is China, however, in terms of value, the share of high-power, expensive antennas for broadcasting television signals is high. The export of satellite dishes from Russia is insignificant - several hundred pieces. The only manufacturer of satellite receivers in Russia is the international company GS Group, which entered the CIS market in 2012 and already in 2013 announced an increase in production capacity in Russia to meet demand both in the Russian and foreign markets. In 2013, 3.1 million satellite receivers were produced in Russia, the annual growth rate over the past few years is 20%.

According to DISCOVERY Research Group experts, the volume of the Russian satellite receiver market at the end of 2013 amounted to 6.5 million units of products. Compared to the previous year, the market volume increased by 6%. Imported products account for almost 50% of the Russian satellite receiver market. The main trends in the satellite receiver market are the growing demand for receivers that support HD signals (this is influenced by the widespread digitalization of the population, the growing interest of satellite television operators in the HD format - in 2014, Tricolor TV announced plans to replace old equipment with new ones HD receivers; conducting the first test screenings in the more modern Ultra HD format); replacement of outdated MPEG-2 equipment with more modern MPEG-4 (in connection with the transition to a new satellite in 2013, NTV-Plus began to transfer its subscribers to a new type of receiver); miniaturization – reducing the size of satellite receivers; increasing demand for hybrid satellite receivers capable of simultaneously providing other services (radio, Internet) along with television, as well as for satellite receivers with a hard drive for recording broadcasts. The Russian market for satellite antennas and receivers directly depends on the situation on the satellite television market. Key players in the Russian satellite television market are Tricolor TV (more than 80% of the satellite television market, uses GS Group products), Orion-Express, NTV-Plus, Raduga TV. The satellite television market in Russia has not yet been saturated; further growth is predicted, mainly due to the increase in new subscribers in the regions. In 2014, new satellites are expected to be launched, which will cover Siberia and the Far East.

J"son & Partners Consulting

According to J"son & Partners Consulting, the Russian pay television market will continue to grow. In 2013, 35.1 million subscribers (households) used pay television services in Russia, which is 10% higher than in 2012. Pay television penetration amounted to 64% in 2013.

In 2013, the volume of the pay TV market in Russia reached 57.1 billion rubles. Market ARPU amounted to 136 rubles/month. The highest penetration level of pay television in Russia in 2013 was observed in the Northwestern Federal District - 80.4%. The minimum penetration across federal districts in the North Caucasus and Siberian Federal Districts is 47% and 41%, respectively.

The subscriber base of the pay TV market will be 40.9 million households by 2018, which is 17% higher than the subscriber base in 2013. Service penetration by 2018 will reach 75% Average market growth rate (CAGR) in the period 2014-2018. will be 3%.

iKS-Consulting

The volume of the Russian pay TV market increased by 16% in 2013 and amounted to 54 billion rubles, according to the results of a new study by iKS-Consulting.

The pay TV subscriber base grew by 11% over the year and reached 34.6 million, thus, service penetration was 62%. It is noted that for the first time in 2013, the number of households connected to digital television (18.9 million or 34% of all Russian households) exceeded the number of analogue subscribers.

The drivers of market growth were: growth of the subscriber base of satellite operators Orion-Express and Tricolor TV; an increase in the number of subscribers among IPTV operators - first of all, at the Rostelecom company; growth of average bill per subscriber (ARPU) in the IPTV and digital cable TV segments.

Among the factors negatively affecting the market are low prices for the service, especially in the satellite TV segment, as well as a shift in consumer interest towards OTT services.

In 2013, the growth of the cable television segment practically stopped. The subscriber base of cable operators grew by only 1.5% over the year. However, this was primarily due to a reduction in the number of analogue TV subscribers from MTS. Other cable operators grew by an average of 5%.

It is worth noting a noticeable shift towards increasing the share of digital cable TV - the number of digital subscribers doubled over the year, while the number of analog cable TV subscribers decreased by 4%. As a result, the share of digital cable TV increased from 12% to 15%.

In absolute terms, the growth leader is satellite TV (another 2.3 million paid subscribers are connected). In some regions, satellite TV is the predominant technology. Thus, in the Southern Federal District its share is 71%. It is worth noting that if in 2012 the Orion Express subscriber base was 1.05 million subscribers, then in 2013 there were 1.98 million. The rapid growth, according to iKS-Consulting analyst Elena Krylova, is explained by the fact that the operator has reduced the subscriber fee a fee of up to 600 rubles per year, up to the price level offered by Tricolor-TV, and sold the equipment at half the price.

But in terms of growth rates, the IPTV segment became the leader - the number of subscribers using this technology increased by 29% compared to 2012. Thus, the market structure by technology has changed over the past year. The share of satellite TV increased by 3%, the share of IPTV - by 2%, and the share of cable TV decreased by 5% over the year.

In 2013, 7 pay TV operators had a market share exceeding 5%. In terms of revenue, Rostelecom is significantly ahead of its competitors - the federal operator owns over a fifth of the market. The Tricolor TV company, despite its leadership in subscribers (the operator accounts for 29% of Russian subscribers), has a revenue share that is almost 1.6 times lower. This is due to the low cost of the operator’s services - the average bill per subscriber (ARPU) is 67 rubles. The third largest operator, MTS, has been losing market share for the third year in a row - back in 2010, the company occupied 14% of the market. This is caused by a decrease in the number of analogue TV subscribers in connection with the company’s chosen digital television development strategy.

The spread in service penetration across federal districts remains significant - from 49% in the Far East to 80% in the Central Federal District, which includes Moscow, where, despite the fact that about 1 million households are already connected to two operators - Mostelecom and one of the operators digital TV - connections continue to grow. Thus, at the end of 2013, the number of subscribers in the capital increased by 6%. At the same time, 2/3 of new connections were made to satellite Tricolor TV. Penetration of digital TV in Moscow at the end of the year amounted to 36%.

iKS-Consulting analysts predict that in 2014 the pay TV market will grow by 10%, and the market volume will exceed 59 billion rubles. The subscriber base will grow by 5% and reach 36.2 million.

year 2012

The Russian pay TV market, according to J’son & Partners Consulting, is one of the largest in the world: at the end of 2012, it had 31.9 million households (HHs) connected to cable, satellite and IP television technologies. According to J'son & Partners Consulting, the growth of the pay television subscriber base will continue, and by 2017 the number of subscribers will increase to 40.2 million households, and the penetration of pay television services will reach 74%.

J"son & Partners Consulting, in a 2012 market study, divides television users into the following categories:

• Pay TV subscribers are users of communication services for the purposes of television broadcasting, the supplier of which is the operator providing the opportunity to view large number predominantly non-terrestrial (pay) TV channels (more than 30).
• Subscribers of social small-channel television– these are users of communication services for the purposes of television broadcasting, the supplier of which is an independent urban (rural) cable operator, providing the opportunity to view a small number (less than 30) mainly terrestrial (free) television channels (but not providing the opportunity to view multi-channel television), payment for the use of which , as a rule, is included (if available) in a single payment document and corresponds to tariffs for communication services for the distribution of all-Russian television and radio programs.
  • (Example: subscribers of OJSC Dolgoprudny Telecommunication Systems (Dolgoprudny), LLC City Cable Network (Samara), MP Ozyorsk Cable Television (Ozyory).

Subscribers of social small-channel TV do not qualify as pay television according to the methodology of J`son & Partners Consulting.

• Free TV subscribers- these are the users of the airwaves analogue television, as well as communication services for television broadcasting purposes, within which the user receives access to open television channels without a subscription fee.

Pay TV subscriber base, 2010-2012

At the end of 2012, the subscriber base of pay TV service users in Russia amounted to 31.9 million households, which is 11% higher than in 2011. Pay TV penetration was 58%.

The greatest growth in subscribers occurred in the satellite TV and IPTV segments.

For the period 2011-2012. The IPTV subscriber base increased 1.6 times. The growth rate of satellite television was 20% over the same period.

The growth of satellite TV was primarily due to the low cost of the service compared to other pay TV technologies, as well as independence from fixed-line networks and availability throughout the country. The increase in satellite TV subscribers was mainly due to the operator Tricolor TV. In 2012, the company connected 2.4 million new subscribers, increasing its base to 11.9 million households. J'son & Partners Consulting in the pay television subscriber base takes into account only paying subscribers (see Methodology above), the increase of which for the Tricolor TV operator in 2012 amounted to 1.4 million households (8.9 million paying subscribers in 2012 versus 7.5 million paying subscribers in 2011). In Russia as a whole, the satellite TV segment increased by 1.9 million households over the year, so Tricolor TV’s contribution to the growth of the segment amounted to 74%.

The rapid growth of IPTV, in turn, was facilitated by the development of broadband services: according to J’son & Partners Consulting, at the end of 2012, broadband penetration reached 48%. One of the main advantages of IPTV is the ability to provide video-on-demand services and access to interactive services. The leaders in the IPTV market are the operators Rostelecom, VimpelCom and MTS.

The growth rate of cable TV is slowing. At the same time, an active transformation is taking place in the cable television segment associated with the modernization of networks by operators and the transition to DVB-C technology, which makes it possible to provide a digital TV service with the additional ability to access services such as video on demand, catch-up TV and others.

AKADO "(4%).

Tricolor's subscriber base increased by 19% in 2012, which is due to the company's high market activity in the market. In 2012, the Tricolor TV company connected foreign brands to TV channel packages, and also introduced the Tricolor TV HD multiplex in the first half of 2012. "Tricolor TV" offers its customers the lowest subscription fee - for an extended package ("Optimum") - 50 rubles / month.

Pay TV market structure by technology

In 2012, cable television accounted for more than half of the entire pay TV market (57%), a figure decreased by 5 percentage points compared to 2011. The share of satellite television was 35%. IPTV share

In 2012, the distribution of the subscriber base among federal districts did not undergo significant changes.

Main results and trends of the pay TV market

Results of industry development in 2012:

• The growth rate of pay TV subscribers in 2012 was 11% compared to 2011. According to J’son & Partners Consulting forecasts, market growth is expected to slow down to 2.5% by 2017.
• Penetration of pay TV services in 2012 was 58%. By 2017, penetration is expected to reach 74%.
• Among all technologies, the IPTV segment shows the highest growth rates: the growth rate was 62% by 2011. The lowest growth rates are observed in the cable TV segment: a growth rate of 2%.
• The growth of the satellite TV market in 2012 was 20%. The market leader in terms of the number of subscribers is the operator Tricolor TV.

Industry development trends in 2013-2017:

• The digital pay television market will grow across all existing technologies.
• The operators' channel lineup will be expanded through HD packages and digital TV channels.
• As a result of the fact that watching video over the Internet is in high demand among the population, increased competition from non-linear TV is expected due to the increased penetration of broadband services.
• The cable television market will be characterized by a decrease in growth rates in all regions of the Russian Federation.

2010

J'son & Partners

According to J'son & Partners Consulting, in 2010 the number of pay television subscribers in the world amounted to 700 million subscribers, and by 2014 this figure will grow to 846 million households. Thus, the average growth will be about 4.7% per year.

The subscriber base of cable television, which occupies about 70% of the pay television market in the world, numbered 475 million households at the end of 2009. Satellite television is the second largest market with a share of 25% and a subscriber base of about 165 million households. It is followed by IPTV with a subscriber base of 35 million households and a market share of 5%. According to Western analysts, revenues in this market will grow to $171 billion in 2010, and by the end of 2014 will amount to more than $222 billion.

According to iKS-Consulting, by the end of 2010 the number of pay TV users in Russia will reach 20.5 million (excluding subscribers of collective television reception systems (CSRT) and subscribers of packages containing only free channels). The market volume will exceed 33 billion rubles. Service penetration will be 40%.

The development of pay television markets in the post-Soviet space occurs at different rates, while, analyzing the trends of these markets, they can be divided into 4 categories based on territoriality:

• Baltic countries (Estonia, Lithuania, Latvia),
• countries of the European part of the CIS (Ukraine, Belarus, Moldova),
• countries of the Transcaucasian part of the CIS (Azerbaijan, Georgia, which is a former CIS country),
• countries of the Central Asian part of the CIS (Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan).

The total share of the pay TV market in the CIS and Baltic countries at the end of 2009 was about 1% of the global pay TV market. The total number of subscribers has reached more than 6 million households. A significant market share (63%) is occupied by the countries of the European part of the CIS (Ukraine, Belarus and Moldova).

The total subscriber base of the pay television service at the end of 2009. in the Baltic countries exceeded 1.3 million connected households, with Lithuania’s share in the total subscriber base amounting to 39%, Estonia’s share – 27%. The remaining 34% came from the Latvian market. The subscriber base of pay television services in the countries of the European part of the CIS at the end of 2009. exceeded 3.7 million connected households.

Experts evaluate the subscriber base of pay television services in the Transcaucasian part of the CIS based on the results of 2010. in 1 million subscribers.

The total subscriber base of the Central Asian region at the end of 2010. exceeded 1.5 million connected households, most of which (60%) belong to the Kazakhstan market. The share of Kyrgyzstan in the region's subscriber base was 5%.

2007

The first satellite antennas appeared in Russia in the late 90s, then offset antennas made of metal were most popular, then Chinese antennas made of cheap and thin metal entered the market, and transparent antennas also appeared. But neither one nor the other took root in Russia due to low quality and fragility. The situation changed in 2007, when satellite antennas made of fiberglass material appeared on the Russian market.

The capital's pay television market offers users a fairly wide choice: satellite, cable, IPTV, package offers (television along with the Internet and telephony), and a large selection of additional services. It was the latter criterion that CNews focused on when compiling the rating of pay TV operators. The rating methodology is as follows: if the operator has any service, he is given a “+” and one point is added, if the service is not fully implemented, then “+/-” and half a point.

Since it seems irrelevant to compare operators by the number of channels broadcast, one point was added to operators for having a “full package” of TV channels. This package means a set of the most interesting foreign channels: news (BBC, CNN, Blommberg), cinema (TVXXI, TV1000, MGM, Universal), sports (Eurosport), educational (Animal Planet, Discovery family channels, Natonal Geographic, Travel Channel , Viasat Explorer, Viasat History) and music (VH1, MTV family channels). Only Beeline TV and Akado have such a set of TV channels.

Another point was given if the operator provides the opportunity to watch TV channels produced by NTV-Plus for an additional fee. Another point is the ability to record TV programs on a set-top box. This function is implemented on some decoders provided by NTV-Plus, Onlime and Beeline-TV. A derivative of this service is the “Pause-TV” function, which allows you to pause watching a TV program with the ability to continue watching after a while. Stream-TV implemented this opportunity differently: TV programs are recorded remotely on a server. This option has its advantages and disadvantages, but since the service itself is available only on a few minor channels, the operator received a “+/-” for it.

Next points: connectivity additional TV and watching TV programs on a computer (without a decoder or TV tuner). The “Radio on TV” service is now available only in the Akado and Qwerty networks, while operators provide the opportunity to listen only to terrestrial radio stations, and therefore they received a “+/-“. Previously, Stream-TV provided a service for listening to a large number of thematic radio stations, but now there is no such function. Stream-TV also lost the “Karaoke” and “Games on TV” functions, due to the lack of such services from other operators, they were not included in the rating.

Functionality of the offers of the capital's pay television providers
Operator/
“Full Package” service of TV channels Access to TV channels produced by NTV-PLUS Recording TV programs V background Connecting a second TV Watching TV programs on a PC Radio on TV Viewing photos on TV HDTV information services Renting an HDTV receiver Video-on-demand Working without a decoder
“NTV-PLUS” - + + + - - - - + + +/- -
Online - - + + - - + - + + - +
“Akado” + + - + - +/- - - + + +/- -
“Stream-TV” - - +/- - + - +/- + +/- + + -
Qwerty - + - + + +/- - - + - + -
"Beeline-TV" + + + + - - + + + + + +/-
Net-by-net - - - + + - - - +/- - - -
"Gorkom" - - - + + - - - +/- - - -

Source: CNews Analytics

One point was awarded for the presence of information services on the TV screen (in particular, weather, exchange rates and traffic jams from Yandex). Previously, Beeline TV had the option of sending messages to Twitter directly from the TV, and Stream TV had the option of watching videos from Youtube on the TV, but due to the unavailability of these offers in currently they were not taken into account at all. The ability to view photos on a TV screen is implemented differently by different operators: in Onlime you need to insert a flash drive into the USB port of the decoder, while with Beeline-TV photos can be read directly from your computer (if you have Windows Media Player 9). At Stream-TV, photos must first be uploaded to the server, and therefore the operator received “+/-” for this option.

All operators have high definition television (HDTV). One full point for this service was awarded only if the high-definition package included “quality” channels, namely HDTV versions of Discovery, National Geographic, Eurosport, MTV, Fox Life. If the operator’s HDTV package was limited to free channels (MyZen, HD Media, Luxe TV, Expert TV), then the operator received only half a point. Another additional point was given to those operators who provide the opportunity to rent an HDTV decoder: due to the high cost of equipment for receiving high-definition television, this option seems relevant.

The Video-on-Demand service gave operators one point each. If, instead of this service, the operator offers the Pay-per-View service, then it received only half a point. The difference between the two services is that Video-on-Demand allows the subscriber to watch the ordered film at any time convenient for him during the day with the ability to rewind and “pause”. In the case of Pay-per-View, the subscriber can choose a film screening session convenient for him according to the schedule, but is not able to control the showing.

Another option, introduced this spring, allows you to watch pay TV on a TV without a decoder. Onlime made this option: the subscriber needs to insert an access card into a TV that supports digital television DVB-C standard and having a corresponding slot. "Beeline-TV" provided the opportunity to watch television through game console Xbox, for which I received half a point.

Pay TV functionality rating in Moscow
Place Operator Points
1 Beeline TV 9.5
2-3 "Akado" 6
2-3 Onlime 6
4-6 "NTV-Plus" 5.5
4-6 "Stream-TV" 5.5
4-6 Qwerty 5.5
7-8 NetByNet 2.5
7-8 "Gorkom" 2.5