Russia’s cable industry believes its very existence is threatened by what it regards as the unfair success of the DTH platform Tricolor TV.
According to Izvestia and Mediasat, the R900 (€22.9) a year currently charged by the latter for its premium package, consisting of leading Russian and international channels, is unrealistically low for the market.
Indeed, it should be a minimum of R200-250 a month and implies that Tricolor TV is effectively operating at a loss.
Unofficially, the Russian cable association (AKTR) believes that Tricolor TV is charging such low prices in order to strengthen its position ahead of an IPO.
These criticisms come alongside today’s news that Tricolor TV’s CEO Vyacheslav Mordachev has left the company. He had been in the position since 2006, a year after the establishment of Tricolor TV.
Tricolor TV is already one of Europe’s leading DTH platforms, claiming 11 million subscribers and up to 30 million viewers as of earlier this month.