Russian pay TV subscribers to grow another 5% in 2014

According to iKS-Consulting, revenue generated by the Russian pay-TV market grew by 16% in 2013 to reach 54 billion roubles ($1.5bn), up from 46.6 billion roubles ($1.3bn) in 2012. iKS expects the growth to continue in 2014 increasing by another 10% to exceed 59 billion roubles ($1.65bn).

The number of pay-TV subscribers increased during 2013 by 11% to 34.6 million with a household penetration of 62%. In 2014, the number of subscribers is forecast to grow by another 5% to 36.2 million.

In 2013, cable television subscriptions increased by only 1.5%. However, this was due primarily to the reduction in the number of analogue subscribers at MTS. Other cable operators grew by around 5%.

The fastest growing segment in absolute terms was satellite which added 2.3 million subscribers over the year. In percentage terms IPTV grew fastest at 29%.

Pay TV subscribers in Russia by technology

                2012  2013  Change
                ----  ----  ------
Cable TV        17.6  17.8   +1.5%
Satellite TV    10.9  13.1    +21%
IPTV             2.8   3.6    +29%

Seven pay TV operators have market shares above 5%, with Rostelecom being by far the largest in terms of revenue, despite the leadership of Tricolor TV in terms of subscribers.

Pay-TV operators with a subscriber base of over one million

                 2013   2012  Change
                -----  -----  ------
Tricolor TV     10.10   8.79    +14%
Rostelecom       7.51   6.57    +14%
MTS              2.58   2.94    -12%
ER-Telecom       2.57  2.358     +9%   
Orion-Express    1.98   1.05     89%
Akado            1.13   1.10      2%
Vimpelcom        1.04   0.98      5%