Telekom Srbija has embarked on a completely new strategy in the last few months, focusing on acquisitions and local content, including the launch of proprietary channels.
As a result, said Marijana Vukasinovic, the company’s head of content, speaking in a panel on content acquisition at Webit 2019, it now has 800,000 subscribers in its home market and several successful TV channels.
It has also started producing its own movies and series. Indeed, to date it has made five high budget series, with seven more in production.
In a wide-ranging discussion, Vukasinovic also said that SVOD services currently account for only about 5% of the Serbian market. This contrasts with the situation in Slovenia, where, according to Irena Battelino, head of content and media services, Telekom Slovenije, a whole range of services are available.
Consumer behaviour is also changing, with linear TV viewing having decreased significantly, while catch-up has increased by 50% in the last five years.
Meanwhile, Szilvia Kiss, senior manager, Magyar Telekom, said that linear TV is still its main business, though it has created a bundled offer to address this change in consumer behaviour.
Elena Panova, residential sales director and marketing director, One Vip Macedonia, meanwhile said that her company’s content spend was largely flat, which presents “a big challenge for us”.
This contrasts with the situation in Serbia, where Telekom Srbija’s is much bigger, and also Hungary, where Magyar Telekom is building up its SVOD library. In Slovenia, Telekom Slovenije is decreasing the amount spent on linear channels and increasing it for on demand services.
Most of the panellists were also of the view that the number of channels they carry will in due course be reduced. Telekom Slovenije, for instance, already offers over 350.
