Russia’s leading OTT service ivi has begun to sell advertising in the smart TV application for Tvigle, one of its competitors.
Kommersant reports the ivi’s Smart House advertising network already includes the apps of other competitors, including Rutube, Peers.TV and Vintera.TV. It adds that the network, which ivi created in February, already reaches some 20 million users. In the case of Tvigle, its smart TV app has until now reached 2 million viewers or 1 million devices.
With its incorporation into Smart House, the network will reach over 90% of the smart TV audience in Russia. Advertising on Tvigle will continue to be sold by the ad sales company IMHO, a subsidiary of NSK, as well as the network.
Kommersant notes that the volume of advertising in the ivi app for smart TVs grew from 1 billion to 2.3 billion impressions in 2017. It is expected to grow at 1.5 times more this year.
Quoting Telecom Daily, it adds that that around 17.6 million people in Russia now own smart TVs, with 82% of the devices being connected to the internet. Furthermore, the number of devices has increased six fold in the last five years.
Tvigle’s share of the online movie market stands at 7%, with the company having revenues of R500 million (€6.76 million).
Smart TVs are now considered one of the main drivers of growth in the Russian OTT market.
