Gazprom targets online video market

Russia’s Gazprom Media has completed the acquisition of a 33.3% stake in Pledform, paving the way for the launch of what could become one of Russia’s leading online video platforms.

In a statement, Gazprom Media says that the two parties have created a joint venture named Ruform.

This will effectively see Rutube, which is owned by Gazprom Media, team up with Pledform to create a new online video platform.

It adds that Russia’s video internet advertising market was work R5.3 billion (€71.5 million) in 2015, with Rutube and Pledform accounting for 8% and 14% respectively.

With the market projected to grow by 15% this year, the new platform’s share could be around 26%.

Rube generated over 4.4 billion views in Russia and abroad in 2015, while Pledform had about 6 billion views.

Views are projected to grow by 3% on PCs and 20% on mobile devices this year.

Niche TV channels help Gazprom

Russia’s Gazprom Media saw its revenues fall by 11% year-on-year in the first quarter to R14.84 billion (€244.07 million).

At the same time, according to Vedomosti, quoting statements by Gazprombank, its net loss amounted to R1.7 billion, or four times the R430 million posted a year earlier.

These falls were down to an overall decline in the ad market and increased costs in servicing the company’s debts.

However, they were also better than expected, helped by the niches TV channels of Prof-Media.

Gazprom Media acquired Prof-Media last year for $602 million, funding the deal with a credit of $510 million from Gazprombank for one year at an interest of 9% per annum.

The company’s TV interests now span five channels (NTV, TNT, TV-3, Pyatnitsa and 2×2), along with the DTH platform NTV-Plus and its proprietary channels.