The Russian DTH platform operator Orion has made its Play Out service available to foreign broadcasters.
In a statement, the company says that the product is intended to become one of the vectors for the development of its B2B portfolio.
It adds that it already provides Play Out services to around 50 TV channels operating in Russia and the CIS, including international services such as Discovery, Viasat and SPI.
In assessing the market potential for Play Out, Orion looked at 3,000 channels, of which 5% belonged to major global holdings and 30% to medium sized majors, with the remainder being niche channels. Its core target audience will be existing thematic channels (small and medium sized players), newly created TV channels and operators interested in reducing production costs.
It will offer either full Play Out service or adapt a channel to a local market.
In a separate development, Orion has launched a new mobile TV app. Named Telegrid, it is aimed at both Telecard subscribers and a wider audience, in the latter instance giving viewers access to TV programmes without the need to register and log in.
