Russians have become more active in using legal video services and paying for them

Russians have become more active in using legal video services and paying for them. At once at eight online cinemas the number of subscribers paying for services exceeded 1 million, calculated in Telecom Daily. The top 3 in terms of the number of paid subscriptions were Kinopoisk, Evie and Okko. Analysts believe that the trend was influenced by an increase in the number of original projects. Market participants themselves also associate the trend with the entry of online cinemas into digital ecosystems. Experts specify that a significant part of video service clients continues to use pirated resources.

Kommersant got acquainted with Telecom Daily’s research on the Russian online cinema market for the first half of the year. It follows from it that the number of subscribers of Russian platforms grew by 41% year-on-year, to 36.7 million. At the same time, the share of paying users increased significantly – from 16.5 million to 24.2 million people. As a result, eight Russian video services crossed the mark of 1 million paid subscribers in the second quarter. It is clarified that the estimates were prepared on the basis of a survey of 10 thousand viewers of video services according to a methodology agreed with market participants.

In terms of the number of users, Kinopoisk is the leader – 9.1 million, with a maximum share of paying subscribers – almost 76%. In second place is Ivy (7.2 million and 54%), in third is Okko (5 million and 66%). Followed by Wink (3.9 million and 72%), Kion (3.2 million and 69%), Premier (2.4 million and 63%) and Start (1.7 million and 65%). As a result, Kinopoisk accounts for 28.2% of the paid market segment, Ivy — 16.2%, Okko — 13.5%, Wink — 11.9%, Kion — 9.6%, specify in Telecom Daily.

In the spring of 2022, many foreign streaming platforms left Russia, including Netflix. Universal, Disney, Sony, Warner and other Hollywood studios have suspended operations in the country and have begun revoking their film licenses. This has led to an influx of users to pirated video services. At the same time, in pursuit of viewers, online cinemas began to increase the production of original content (see “Kommersant” dated May 19), which led to an increase in the cost of its production and an increase in staff shortages (see “Kommersant” dated June 28 and August 1 ).

After the departure of Western majors, video services experienced an outflow of subscribers, but the situation was corrected by an increase in the release of original projects, says Denis Kuskov, CEO of Telecom Daily. “So, Kion began to release premieres every first day of the month, “Evie” – to upload the entire series at once,” added Mr. Kuskov.

Among the reasons for the growth of active and paying users of Wink, two factors can be distinguished – “this is the active growth of premieres and marketing activities,” says Anton Volodkin, CEO of the online cinema. In addition, he notes, the trend was influenced by the expansion of the presence of the video service in the ecosystem subscriptions of Rostelecom and Tele2, VK ​​Combo and Gazprombank.

Kion says that in 2023 they continued to increase the “production and rhythm of release” of projects, “including for this reason the number of subscribers has grown.” Start claims that at the end of June, the base of paying subscribers was 2.8 million households, having increased by almost 50% year-on-year.

Kinopoisk also notes an increase in average income per subscriber: “This is due to additional options, for example, in December 2022 we added an option with access to the Bookmate book service, as well as Plus for Children, an option with children’s content” . Premier expects the second half of the year to attract even more new subscribers.

However, despite a noticeable increase in paying customers, a significant part of the audience of online cinemas still continues to use pirated services in parallel, Denis Kuskov notes: say they do not use pirated resources, but another 20% use pirated services from time to time in order not to buy specific paintings on legal services for an additional fee.

Julia Yurasova