Russia’s Online Video Market Grows By 56% In H1 2020 – Developing into a US$500 Million Plus Subscriber Industry
In the first half of 2020, the Russia’s online video market grew by 56% year-on-year with a value of 18.6 billion rubles (US$250 million), according to the information and analytical agency TelecomDaily.
By the end of the year, analysts predict a growth of 55% – up to 41.9 billion rubles (US$562 million), if remote working and leisure continue to be a trend.
According to the H1 2020 data, the market leaders were IVI online cinema, with a share of 23%, Okko multimedia (17%) and YouTube hosting.
The biggest revenue growth (4.6 times) in H1 2020 was shown by the Start online cinema, whose market share was 4% – the same as that of Kinopoisk, Amediateka and Megafon TV. In second place in terms of growth rates is Okko, whose revenue grew 2.2 times. Ivi, Rostelecom and Premier have increased their revenues by about 1.5 times.
In addition, according to TelecomDaily, for the first time, the share of revenue from purchases of video on demand (one-time paid rent or purchase of a digital copy of a unit of content) exceeded the share of revenue from advertising (27.1% versus 26%). The subscription model still dominates sales (46.9%).
According to the general director of TelecomDaily Denis Kuskov, during the pandemic, most market participants managed to increase their revenue.
Ivi, the largest player in this market offers licensed video content, including more than 65,000 titles of movies, TV shows, cartoons and music videos. is the largest service in this market in Russia and has been called the Netflix of Russia.
Ivi offers licensed content from all major content producers, including Russian studios such as Mosfilm, Lenfilm, Gorky Films, Paradise, CTC Media and global players such as Warner Bros; Paramount, Disney, BBC, National Geographic among others. Ivi’s streaming service is available only to users in Russia due to licensing restrictions.
The service is available on the widest range of devices, including smartphones and tablets, running all popular operating systems as well as Smart TV’s from all of the main manufacturers.
97% of content on Ivi’s website is free of charge and can be accessed without registration, while the remaining 3% represents the latest movie premiers and the best titles from majors’ catalogues that can be viewed by subscribing to a premium ivi+ service.
In 2012, Ivi became the first online video service in Europe streaming licensed content from all major Hollywood content producers. The company has about 50 million subscribers.
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