Representatives of Hulu and Netflix are understood to have held preliminary talks about the possibility of entering the Russian market.
Quoting the heads of several media companies, Vedomosti reports that those from Hulu, who met with Russian film studios and video services, included Johannes Larcher, the company’s SVP international.
They discussed such issues as the general state of the video market in Russia, demands for video advertising, the strategy of individual players and their financial situation.
Hulu’s interest in Russia is believed to have been prompted by the country’s entry into the WTO and research by comScore indicating that video viewership in Russia is higher than in any other European country.
One source believes that Hulu may aim to team up with a local partner with a large library of Russian content such as Lvi.ru or Now.ru. Both Hulu and Netflix are said to have visited Russia late last year.