Russia’s Comstar-UTS ended Q2 with 133,000 pay-TV subscribers in Moscow, or 3% fewer than in Q1 and 10% than a year earlier.
Its pay-TV ARPU was nevertheless improved in local currency terms, at R550 (€12.2) being up by 11% in the quarter and 9% year-on-year.
Although the company’s regional pay-TV subscriber total in Q2 was unchanged at 1.953 million, it was 1,278% up on that a year earlier.
ARPU meanwhile rose by 3% in the quarter to reach R106.
Comstar-UTS puts the subscriber reduction in Moscow down to the adverse economic climate.
It also says that over 50% of its potential customers in the regions were receiving pay-TV services at the end of Q2, of which 374,000 opted for low-cost packages comprising of 20 channels.
