SPECIAL Content news review EDITION from the CIS and beyond JAN 2017 FOCUS: PRODUCTION INDUSTRY RESULTS OF THE YEAR 2 INDUSTRY NEWS 12 ON TOP RU 5 CONTENT NEWS 13 ON TOP KZ 11 ON TOP UA 14 FOCUS The CR INDUSTRY NEWS JANUARY 2017 PRIVATE COPYING LEVY These are: a) creation of the fund to support the national lm production and organize the work of Expert Panel for projects pitching; b) transformation of INTRODUCED IN BELARUS the Kazakhlm studio into the A to Z cycle lm prodco and the creation of the specic Economic area on its territory; c) bringing out the lms from the In Belarus, manufacturers and importers of data storage devices as well as Kazakhlm State Fund; d) creation of unique automated system to collect the devices which may be used by consumers for copying and recording box-oce data (there are 93 cinemas with 247 screens according to the latest audiovisual content (computers, TVs, video and audio recorders, radios, data); e) modern lm industry clusters development. mobile phones, etc.) are charged to pay a levy in favour of Belarusian authors If successful, the project will increase the extra-budgetary nancing on 30% in and creators of lms and music starting from December 12, 2016. The rate of 2020 already, and will add another 40 percentage points within the next 30 levy for copying and recording devices is 0.1% of their retail price, for data years. With all that money the number of lms produced in 2050 will increase storage devices the rate is 3%. Such fee is mandated by ‘The Law on Copyright tenfold. and Related Rights’ which had come into force in 2011, still the list of devices has not been specied yet. These legal gaps are to be lled by Belarusian Society of Authors, Performers and Other Right Holders, an NGO which has been granted rights to collect and redistribute funds. According to the head of the Society Sergei Kukhto 25% of these funds will be allocated for the UFG BOUGHT BLOCKING STAKE organization’s operating expenses, 65% will be redistributed among the IN RUSSIAN HIT ANIMATION FRANCHISE authors, producers and performers who will sign contracts with the Society, the rest 10% will be used for social projects such as festivals and contests for young talents. ANALOGUE SWITCH-OFF IN KYRGYZSTAN IN MAY 2017 Kyrgyzstan Telegraph Agency reports, quoting Deputy Minister of Culture, Information and Tourism of the Kyrgyz Republic Ainura Tamirbekova, analogue TV signal in the country will be switched o on May 15, 2017. According to the ocials, 95% of the territory is covered by digital signal and 40% of the country’s population has already switched to DTT. Kyrgyzstan started DTT in November 2014 using DVB-T2 standard with Russia’s UFG Private Equity has bought a blocking stake in the company that MPEG-4 compression. State owned holding Kyrgyztelekom operates four controls the sale of licenses for use of the characters of the popular cartoon multiplexes through its subsidiary RPO PMTP while two more multiplexes are series ‘Masha and the Bear’. UFG bought the 25% stake from the operated by the private company Tsyfrovyie Tekhnologii (Digital Technologies) Cyprus-registered Rodleport Holdings, with the rest of the company established by 21 private broadcasters. The rst multiplex operated by RPO remaining with the Russian PBT Invest LLC, which is controlled by two US PMTP carries so called ‘social package’ which includes 12 free channels. companies that have anonymous benecial owners. Commercial channels are transmitted via the second multiplex. By now there ‘Masha and the Bear’ brand recognition amongst 3-9 years old children in are 13 commercial channels available including the Russian ones. Europe is more than 50%, and in some countries such as Italy where it is shown on TV it is as high as 85%. The production cost of an episode is $ 250,000 and for the series of 26 episodes is $ 6.5 mil., which is covered by licensing deals with Russian and other broadcasters. However, the brand also AZERBAIJAN SWITCHED OFF earns signicant revenues from merchandising and the company is already protable. Among the incomes streams, advertising revenues paid by THE ANALOGUE TV SIGNAL YouTube represents 75% of the company’s ad revenue and most of that is earned from ads run in countries other than Russia. Ministry of Communications and High Technologies of the Republic of Revenue growth from licensing will grow by 25%. However, he admitted that Azerbaijan reported on the 330 analogue transmitting stations switch o in 14 the company felt the crisis in the Russian market where the sale of children’s regions of the country marking the end of the nal stage of transition to DTT. goods is down by 40-50%. By now 145 digital transmitters are functioning all over the country. They plan to increase the total number up to 190, raising the coverage up to 95% of the territory. The analogue switch-o started early in November 2016 according to the digital transition programme. To watch the digital terrestrial television, Azerbaijan residents have to buy KAZAKHSTANI DTH-PLATFORM receivers, which are sold at post oces in those regions where the analogue OTAUTV MOVED TO KAZSAT-3 transmission is set to shut down. They cost about 22 manat (approx. $ 12.5), which is pretty cheap – all set-top-boxes are sold by mail departments to Kazakhstani DTH-platform OTAUTV signal had been moved from the foreign prevent overrating and make it possible to choose the right receiver at the satellite Intelsat – 904 to Kazakh Kazsat-3. It took about 1.6 billion tenge government institution. (about $ 4.7 million). DTH-service OTAUTV is now available for about 4 million people in Kazakhstan. From now on, the subscribers of OTAUTV have the access to 120 TV channels, 55 of which are local and 65 – foreign and international. The KAZAKH CINEMAS WILL HAVE number of households using the platform has reached 1.2 million, i.e. about 4 million people. And it should be noted that almost 80% of subs are those TO REVEILLE BOX-OFFICE DATA living in non-urban area, where at the time of the DTH introduction there were only 2-3 TV channels. Within the framework of the Public Council of the Ministry of Culture and Sport the project of the New Concept of Cinema Development was adopted. Prepared by the Kazakh Research Institute of Culture, the project determines the development of the national cinematography divided into ve key incentives. 2 The CR INDUSTRY NEWS JANUARY 2017 ONLINE VIDEO CONTENT NEW SERVICE COMPANY TO OPERATE SALES INCREASED IN RUSSIA SALES HOUSES OF GAZPROM-MEDIA AND VI News agency Rambler News Service with reference on Alexey Volin, deputy The sales houses of Russian Vi and Gazprom-media holdings will be operated minister of Telecom and Mass Communications of the Russian Federation, by the New Service Company (NSC). This means that the New Service reports annual increase of online video content sales in Russia in 2016. Company will be responsible for all the advertising of Vi and Gazprom-media According to the Ministry, yearly turnover increased by 20% reaching on TV and Internet. According to the agreement, Gazprom-media gets 30.9% 4.5 billion rubles (€ 71.25 million). At the same time electronic books sales of NSC in return. Regional sellers of Gazprom-media and Vi – Alkasar and VI increased by 43% raising the revenue by 2.3 billion rubles (€ 36.42 million) Trend correspondingly – will become part of NSC as well. while music sales totaled 2.3 billion rubles (€ 44.33 million) resulting in 20% Earlier NSC was named the back oce of the National Advertising Alliance. raise. The latter was launched by Channel One Russia, VGTRK, Gazprom-media and Deputy minister pointed out that number of Internet users who buy content the National Media Group, to keep the balance between the TV and legally signicantly increased due to the governments enhanced actions advertising companies. against online piracy. While the records of 2013 indicate that only 8 million users purchased content legally, the corresponding indicator in 2016 is 22 million users. Mr. Volin also mentioned that about 40 of total 52 million households in Russia are subscribed to pay TV services: cable TV – 18 million, satellite TV – 16 million, IPTV – 6 million. NEW OWNERS OF KAZAKH CABLE OPERATOR ALMA-TV Millionaire Dinmuhamet Idrisov has sold his stake in Alma-TV, the largest UKRAINIAN TV GROUPS FOUND cable operator in Kazakhstan. The nancial details were not disclosed. From now on the only shareholder of Alma-TV is Ordabasy Communications CONSENSUS WITH CABLE OPERATORS founded by Erbol Abdukhmanov and Denis Nikitin in Almaty. Alma-TV is operating on not only the territory of Kazakhstan, but also Russia From January 1, 2017 the new Law # 3504 ‘On amendments to the Law on after it bought Internet provider 2Com in 2015 and telecommunications Television and Radio Broadcasting’ came into force. It states that the Universal company Cyfra One in 2016. The latter unites 11 smaller operators in dierent Programme Service (the package of must-carry channels) became obligatory regions, Moscow including, and provides services for about 10,000 B2B clients for not only the terrestrial broadcasting companies, but cable, IPTV and other and 50,000 households. Therefore, Alma-TV is thought to become an TV operators. And, adhering to it, the biggest cable operator in Ukraine Volia international telecom holding soon, taking about $ 150 million from Eurasian has reached an agreement on rebroadcasting of national TV channels with all Development Bank. Ukrainian media groups, according to its representatives. Volia states that the subscribers of their services won’t notice any change.