Russian Online Video Market Set For Explosive Growth: Report

MOSCOW, October 22, 2013 /PRNewswire/ --

Russia's online video market is forecast to reach more than 100 million viewers watching almost 300 billion videos annually by 2018, according to a ground-breaking industry report released today.

"Online Video in Russia" is the first report of its kind to give a comprehensive overview of this exciting and fast-growing sector. Published by East-West Digital News (EWDN) and drawing on the latest analytics and expertise from partners including comScore, Ernst & Young (EY) and Moscow's Higher School of Economics (HSE), the report provides deep insights into a market that is attracting increasing interest from multinationals and investors worldwide. The report is sponsored by Tvigle Media, Russia's leading online video company.

Speaking at a press conference to launch the report in Moscow today, EWDN Editor-in-Chief Adrien Henni said: "Russia is emerging as one of the most important markets for electronic video content globally. We are pleased to be bringing a global audience the first-ever set of reliable and precise data on the industry - an exciting emerging segment in an emerging market that has considerable potential for future growth."

According to the report, future growth in the sector will be driven by a variety of factors, from Russia's new anti-piracy legislation and the beginning of massive advertiser involvement in online video formats, to the growing maturity of several online video platforms. The in-stream ad and paid content markets are forecast to more than triple to almost USD 350 million.

In addition to medium- and long-term forecasts and trends, the report explores key issues defining the industry, including traditional and new distribution channels, copyright holders' strategies, advertising, piracy and the legislation that came into force in August to tackle the problem.

Egor Yakovlev, CEO of Tvigle Media, said: "This is a tremendously exciting time to be doing business online in Russia. This report combines in-depth data from globally reputable sources with the insights born of years of experience of the sector. The result makes for compelling reading - and points the way to a bright future for Russia's internet."

The full report is downloadable from East-West Digital News at

http://www.ewdn.com/files/online_video_full_version.pdf

For editors

East-West Digital News is the leading English-language resource on Russian digital industries. Its website, ewdn.com, provides news, market data, business analysis and updates on the Internet, e-commerce, online media and mobile industries, software and hardware innovation, as well as related investment activity and legal developments.

Tvigle is Russia's biggest provider of legal Internet video content. The company's video-on-demand platform, tvigle.ru, is an easy-to-use portal offering a vast selection of legal, professional content for users to view where, when and how they want - on computers, mobile devices, smart TVs, media players, and games consoles. Founded in 2007, Tvigle is the exclusive distributor in Russia of many series produced by leading Western TV networks.

Enquiries

Tom Blackwell, EM (Moscow)
blackwell@em-comms.com
+7-916-447-2873

Peter Morley, EM (London)
morley@em-comms.com
+44-7927-186645