Russia’s Gazprom-Media is planning to launch its own on demand service.
According to RBC and AKTR, quoting Irina Osadchaya, the company’s director for corporate communications, it is being prepared by its subsidiary GPM Entertaining TV, with the launch tentatively planned for this spring.
She added that the main goal of the service is to bring Gazprom Media’s popular content closer to the viewer on all platforms.
Gazprom Media is Russia’s largest media holding and its interests include the national channel NTV and DTH platform NTV Plus.
Meanwhile, GPM Entertaining TV manages a number TV channels including TNT, TV3 2×2 and Pyatnitsa.
Gazprom-Media is no stranger to the online video market, having bought the service Rutube in 2008. It subsequently launched its own service, named Now.ru, in 2011 which was not profitable.
In 2016, it sold Rutube and Now.ru to Pladform, in which it acquired a 33% stake and which was subsequently renamed Ruform.