The client base of Tricolor TV, Russia’s leading satellite TV provider, rose by 10% between January and April 2011, reaching 8 million subscribers with 85% purchasing TV packages., The company expects to increase its subscriber base to 10 million households by the end of 2011, announced Tricolor TV General manager Vyacheslav Mordachev last week.
In his press conference, Mordachev quoted a report by IHS Screen Digest saying that “Tricolor TV has the fastest growing subscriber base in Europe and is one of the world leaders, along with the Indian satellite television operators Dish TV and Sun Direct.” “Every sixth citizen of Russia is watching Tricolor TV,” the report also says.
IHS Screen Digest is an international research company covering global media markets.
Tricolor TV broadcasts its signal across a zone with 125 million of Russians. “All these people are our potential audience,” Mordachev added.
According to IHS Screen Digest, among the total population watching pay TV, 85% are Tricolor subscribers.
According to Finam’s estimates, the number of subscribers for the major competing satellite TV operators NTV-Plus and Raduga TV stands at 630,000 and 100,000 viewers respectively.
Importantly, Tricolor TV revealed the pace of its revenue growth for the first time. Revenues for 2010 exceeded 3.3 billion rubles, an increase of 1 billion rubles compared to 2009.. The operator’s Optimum and Super Optimum television packages are the company’s revenue leaders. Average yearly revenue per Tricolor TV subscriber increased by 12.5% in 2010 from 394 rubles to 441 rubles, roughly $14.1 and $15.8, respectively. The portion of paid viewers, however, has remained at the 2009 level of 85%.
The National Satellite Company has been providing satellite television services under the Tricolor TV brand since 2005. In 2009, the company signed a strategic partnership agreement with Gazprom Media, a major holding comprising television, radio, print media, film production, advertising, movie theater and Internet assets. The agreement paved the way for Gazprom Media’s acquisition of the National Satellite Company, which however remains to be completed.
This article made use of materials from a ComNews.ru report.
