The number of pay-TV subscribers in Russia remained unchanged in the year to March 31.
According to TMT Consulting, it stood at 46.5 million, with stability down to growth in IPTV subscriptions, in particular as part of convergent tariff plans. Meanwhile, the number of cable TV and DTH subscribers fell by 75,000 and around 24,000 respectively in Q1 this year.
Of the three largest operators, only Rostelecom gained subscribers in Q1 – 45,000 overall and 70,000 IPTV. Tricolor retained DTH subscribers and MTS lost them for the first time since 2014.
Pay-TV revenues in Q1 were 0.3% lower than the previous quarter at R27.4 billion (€299 million).
Although this compared favourably to the falls in previous years (0.9% in Q1 2022 and 1.6$ in Q1 2021), this was down to significant increases in subscription fees in December 2022.
