The Russian DTH platform operator NTV-Plus saw the number of subscribers to its OTT service almost double in the year to June 30.
According to the operator’s owner Gazprom Media, the total stood at 189,824, or 93% more than in the same period in 2019. At the same time, 162,668 only subscribed to the NTV-Plus TV online service and did not have a satellite subscription. The share of NTV-Plus online viewers who were also satellite subscribers was only just over 14% in the second quarter. Satellite subscribers have the opportunity to use the online TV (multiscreen service), which allows watching TV channels included in the satellite subscription on any digital device.
Gazprom Media notes that the relative decrease in the share of such users in the total number of OTT subscribers is explained by the rapid growth in the number of subscriptions. The number of views using the SVOD model was 161,135, which was 144% more than in Q2 2019. There was also strong customer loyalty, with 85% renewing their subscription for the next period.
Meanwhile, the number of subscribers who opted for pay-per-view stood at 1,533 down 79% on the same period last year. This was due to the lack of sports broadcasts during the Covid-199 pandemic.
Commenting on the figures, Konstantin Smirnov, director of the department of digital products at NTV-Plus, said: “The past period can hardly be called simple. Like most aggregators, due to the pandemic, we faced difficulties – sports broadcasts left the market. And we, as a platform that actively sells sports, experienced a “mild malaise”. But we managed to replace the dropped content for a while. We offered our viewers a VIP package consisting of premium educational and movie channels. The rapid growth in subscriptions indicates that the replacement was successful. And our specialists used the break in live broadcasts to expand the functionality and improve the usability of the OTT platform, because sporting events return, and spectators return with them. And we want the fans to be pleasantly surprised when they return”.
