Expert: Pay TV operators’ revenue rises 7% to 23 bln rbl in Jul–Sep

MOSCOW, Oct 30 (PRIME) -- Revenue of Russian pay TV operators rose 7% on the year and 0.8% on the quarter to 22.9 billion rubles in July–September, researcher TMT Consulting said late Monday in a study.

Pay TV penetration in the country exceeded 77%, and an average revenue per user (ARPU) added 7 rubles on the year to 175 rubles, value-added tax excluded.

State-controlled Rostelecom occupied over a third of the market with a 36% share in the total revenue. National Satellite Company, working under the Tricolor TV brand, had 16%, ER-Telecom 10%, and MTS 8%.

Cable TV secured 44% of operators’ total revenue, IPTV provided 33%, and satellite TV accounted for 23%.

The number of subscribers of pay TV in the country added 3.1% on the year and 0.5% on the quarter to 43.7 million.

Tricolor TV’s base fell 0.3% on the year to 12.201 million, while Rostelecom’s base gained 4.2% to 10.048 million. ER-Telecom’s base widened 17.9% to 3.719 million, and MTS’ base rose 8.9% to 3.428 million. Orion’s base increased 3.6% to 3.140 million.

(65.8129 rubles – U.S. $1)

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