Russia’s National Media Group (NMG) is engaged in talks with the First Channel, VGTRK and Gazprom-Media about their possible participation in the upcoming online video platform More.TV.
Quoting employees at the three companies, Kommersant reports that negotiations are under way, with one saying they include content purchasing and the shareholding participation in the platform.
It also quotes Olga Paskina, CEO of National Media Group (NMG), as saying that the company is discussing the possibility of launching More.TV “as an industrial B2C platform”.
She added that the VOD market in Russia is growing by 40% a year, while J’son & Partners have estimated its value at R24 billion (€321.4 million) in 2018.
The prospect of launching a joint online video platform, described as a “Russian Hulu”, has been on the agenda in Russia for some time.
As previously reported by Broadband TV News, More.TV was eventually announced by NMG and CTC Media in June 2018 and is now expected to launch later this year.