Russia’s Tricolor saw its Ultra HD subscriber total triple to 681,000 in 2021.
At the same time, its total subscriber base rose to 12.261 million, of whom 10.4 million, up from 10.3 million a year earlier, received HD services. Meanwhile, an increasing number of viewers opted for the operator’s online service Tricolor Cinema and TV, with the total amounting to 1.7 million at year’s end. About 14% of satellite TV customers used streaming services from Tricolor, which was more than two times higher than in 2020. The growth of the share of OTT users in the general base strengthened Tricolor’s position in the market of online services.
According to Denis Kuskov, CEO of IAA Telecom Daily, “Tricolor Cinema and TV is more than a classic online cinema. In fact, the company was able to offer users on the internet almost the same set of channels as on the satellite. It is worth noting the fact that before Tricolor, no one in our country made such an offer on the market. Along with Kinopoisk, IVI and Okko, the operator’s online service is among the top video services in terms of the amount of film content. With a multimillion-dollar Tricolor satellite TV customer base that can use the online service at no additional cost, the operator has everything it takes to become one of the leaders in terms of the number of online users”.
At the end of 2021, the operator offered viewers a total of 281 TV channels, of which 10 were Ultra HD, including 24 proprietary services. The latter included Football, Hockey and Sports – were part of the new Tricolor project Our Sport, launched in March last year and aimed at supporting and popularising all Russian sports, including niche.
Tricolor’s own movie channels claimed 12% and 13.6% viewing shares its satellite and online service respectively in 2021.
