PRESS: Online cinemas face risk of subscribers’ outflow in 2023

MOSCOW, Jan 20 (PRIME) -- The Russian market of video services increased 5% in 2022 by revenue, but the 2023 dynamics may be shaky, business daily Kommersant reported on Friday quoting experts.

More than 25% of the respondents plan to cut their spending by cancelling subscription for video services soon, according to a poll conducted by audit company B1 in December 2022 among 700 users of legal online cinemas.

Of those intending to get rid of the subscription, 44% pointed to a high price as the main reason of their decision, 32% wanted to cancel their subscription after they have ended watching a certain series, 11% received the subscription as a gift and did not plan to buy it, and 10% were unhappy about the content selection and 3% about the quality of a service.

B1 partner Anton Ustimenko said that growth of the audience of online cinemas could be unstable because of problems with the replacement of Hollywood content. “Foreign online services invest in project tens times more per year than revenue of the whole Russian video streaming market,” he said.

After the start of the special operation in Ukraine, Walt Disney, Warner Bros., Sony Pictures, and Universal Pictures halted their operations in the country, and Netflix and other services pulled out.

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