The number of HD viewers in Russia has grown ten-fold in the last year, resulting in an APRU increase of around 10% for pay-TV operators.
Quoting Telecomdaily, Vedomosti reports that the number of active subscribers to HD services – defined as watching at one HD channel at least once a week – in the country stood at around 4 million as of the end of May, compared to 400,000 a year earlier.
At the same time, the number of HD channels available to viewers has increased significantly, from an average of six to 30, with the leading providers being ER Telecom (41), VimpelCom (36) and Tricolor TV (25).
The Russian pay-TV market is estimated to have been worth R47.5 billion (€1.14 billion) in 2012, with HDTV viewers contributing R3 billion to the total.
Tricolor TV, the country’s leading DTH platform, had 1.45 million subscribers to its HD offer, launched only last summer, as of the end of this March.