The conference "ConTech 2024. Content and technologies for digital TV in Russia"

On November 20, the ninth annual conference "ConTech 2024. Content and Technologies for Digital TV in Russia. The event is a landmark for the entire digital TV market; it has become an expert platform for discussing regulatory issues, business development, and trends.

High cost of content creation leads to collaborations

At the plenary discussion "Strategies of Media Companies: Social Initiatives, Media Infrastructure Security and Audience Trust", representatives of leading companies in the market noted that, summarizing the results of the past year, we can confidently talk about positive dynamics. According to the speakers of the plenary discussion, the year was rich in draft laws. Thus, they recalled the ban on demonstration and propaganda of LGBT* content and the very recent initiative to ban drug propaganda.

For all players of the pay TV market the issue of fighting piracy has always been very acute. Experts estimate that the market of illegal content in 2023 amounted to 12 billion rubles. The importance of the fight against pirate resources is emphasized by the fact that, according to Grechishnikova, over the past few years the cost of content production has increased by 30-50% and the budget of one series can reach up to 100 million rubles.

Russian video hostings without YouTube

Representatives of Russian video platforms discussed at the blitz discussion "Without YouTube. Platform Involution or Unconditional Leadership?" the consequences of YouTube's slowdown, key aspects of the development of Russian online video hosting, as well as approaches to working with bloggers, building recommendation systems, and the future of Russian platforms.

AI taught to make video content

At Showcase AI-transformation. Blitz presentations "Showcase AI-products for telecom and media" talked about artificial intelligence and the prospects of its application. The participants of the session made presentations that showed the possibilities of artificial intelligence application.

Analysts are confident of market growth

The content direction of the conference turned out to be informative, which was presented by the session "New Digital TV. Collaborations of TV channels, online movie theaters and video hosting". It touched upon the monetization of television, as well as the integration of bloggers' content into the broadcasting of TV channels and other important topics for companies.

The revenue of the online video market grew from 86.7 billion rubles in 2022 to 111.7 billion in 2023, according to the market research of J'son & Partners. Forecasts for 2024 are also optimistic: the market will grow by 30-35%, subscription will add 32-37%, advertising will increase by 25-28%.

Pay TV operators' revenue from subscriptions in 2023 amounted to 129.4 billion rubles (+4.7 billion rubles compared to 2022). In 2024, revenue will continue to grow due to tariff increases, among other factors, while the subscriber base may start to shrink. In 2024, revenue from advertising on 116 thematic TV channels in seven packages of pay TV operators amounted to RUB 13 billion (+39%), while in 2022 it was only RUB 9.4 billion.

Players with their own software are winning in the TV market

At the discussion "The Evolution of Subscriber Signal Receiving Devices. SmartTVs, set-top boxes, media hubs: innovations for home use" discussed key trends in the TV market.

Russian manufacturers are obliged to pre-install 15 Russian online movie theaters, including Tricolor Cinema and TV, on their devices. What the optimal number of pre-installed applications should be, the panelists could not determine, noting that the current figure may increase in the future.

Signal protection should become Russian

The discussion devoted to TV signal protection and the need to switch to domestic CAS/DRM systems was called "TV signal protection systems in the era of attacks and hacks".

Conditional Access System (CAS) and Digital Rights Management (DRM) are essential for any digital pay-TV operator. If earlier companies used foreign software along with domestic software, now after vendors left and support for these solutions is no longer available, the question of systematic replacement of existing software with Russian software has arisen.

The panelists agreed that the transition to domestic systems will not be a one-step process. For example, CAS replacement will require gradual replacement of subscriber equipment, while installation of DRM, which is software, is possible in a shorter period of time.