Pay-TV revenues did not grow in Russia for the first time in the third quarter.
According TMT Consulting, they remained static at R26.5 billion (€319 million), with Q1 traditionally the quarter when revenues decrease due to seasonality in the satellite segment.
TMT Consulting adds that the number of pay-TV subscribers increased by only 0.1% (90,000) in Q3 to 46.3 million, with penetration remaining at 82%. Meanwhile, ARPU decreased slightly, by R0.4 to R190.
IPTV was the driver for growth, with the number of subscribers in Q3 increasing by 700,000.
At the same time, there was no growth in the DTH sector and cable continued to decline. Indeed, over the year cable operators lost nearly 300,000 subscribers.
Almost all growth in subscriber numbers (89,000) in Q3 was accounted for by the top five providers, with MTS remaining the market leader in terms of growth rates.
