The X conference "Contech2025. Content and technologies for digital TV in Russia"

The main industry event brought together key players in the digital television market: representatives of pay-TV and online cinema operators, top managers of media holdings and video platforms, software and service providers for broadcasters, equipment manufacturers and other industry experts gathered to discuss the present and future of the industry - more than 150 people in total.

Traditionally, the conference was divided into three thematic streams: media companies' strategies, content, and technology. The speakers of the conference presented to the audience comprehensive cases at the intersection of creativity, business and innovation. The organizers of the professional conference were the publication Telesputnik, IA Telecom Daily and TMT Conferences.

During the plenary discussion, the experts discussed the interim results and emerging trends in the digital TV market, as well as the current issues of pay television. Thus, the speakers were keenly interested in the development of the domestic technology services industry, solutions in the field of TV signal delivery and processing, and the use of neural networks in media. Current strategies for interacting with the viewer, changes in the consumption of content in general and advertising in particular, have not been ignored. The speakers of the plenary discussion were Alexander Volodin, Marketing Director of Tricolor, Alexey Ivanov, CEO of KION, Kirill Makhnovsky, CEO of Orion Group, Grigory Uryev, CEO of Sinterra Media, Alexey Byrdin, CEO of the Internet Video Association, and Nikolai Milovanov, Director of Elecard Devices. The moderators were Denis Kuskov, CEO of IA Telecom Daily, and Evgenia Stogova, RBC correspondent.

Alexander Volodin said that the company notes a good steady growth in interest in satellite television, as well as an avalanche of interest in satellite Internet (growth was 250% in the North-Western Federal District alone). In his opinion, the industry is at a turning point, when modern technologies and neural networks are changing the market beyond recognition. If complex digital products used to be made for several years, now a team of like–minded people can implement a project in less than a month, and this definitely needs to be taken into account - high-quality titles made exclusively using artificial intelligence are already appearing.

Kirill Makhnovsky also agreed that the demand for online products is growing and noted that 2025 proved to be quite stable for the industry. The expert's assertion that the pay-TV and OTT market has so far failed to generate the commercial value of the product for the consumer caused a controversial controversy among the conference participants. The cost of subscriptions is low, and the race for viewing is mainly carried out by dumping methods, the expert said, and there is no other model yet. No one knows how to change this situation yet.

At the expert discussion "Educational strategies in the field of film production. Staff training, development and support" The conference participants reviewed the full range of industry issues related to recruitment and retention of employees. Traditional education models no longer work, graduates of specialized universities and colleges are required to have new competencies, as well as confident skills in working with modern technologies and AI. But how to balance the need to transfer academic knowledge with practical training in the latest technologies? How can we support young professionals after graduation and prevent staff from flowing into related industries? How are government and private initiatives investing in the training of domestic personnel for the film industry and what can be learned from the world's leading film schools? The speakers and the conference participants searched for answers to these questions together. Polina Ilyina, Academic Director of the HSE Film Institute, David Kocharov, General Producer of PREMIER and RUTUBE, and Elena Kapuro, General Director of the ArtMasters Academy, spoke at the discussion. The session was moderated by Olga Zhukova, Executive Director, APKiT.

In the next discussion, entitled "Creativity and Innovation: Next-generation content for digital TV and online platforms," the current problems of the pay-TV market were considered in as much detail as possible. The topic of discussion was thematic channels for digital TV, innovative video content formats created, among other things, using neural networks, as well as the search for a formula for a successful series. In this section, a joint report was made on "Legal innovations in the field of content in the context of AI applications.

It is impossible to discuss digital television without diving into technology issues. They became the main topic of discussion in the final discussion "Strategies for the technological development of digital TV: a balance between innovation, risk and commerce." The participants of ConTech 2025 made predictions about the future of ultra-clear TV and immersed themselves in the possibilities of voice assistants, content delivery services, cloud technologies for broadcasts and content protection systems, as well as reviewed digital ecosystems in the domestic TV market.

Anniversary conference "Contech2025. Content and technologies for digital TV in Russia" was on the rise: the participants of the event interviewed by Telesputnik noted the high level of organization and relevance of the issues raised, a diverse and thoughtful program full of meanings and new information. The next event is scheduled for October 2026.