Online cinema market revenue in Russia 2017-2020, by model

The revenue of video-on-demand (VOD) platform subscriptions in Russia reached over 23.9 billion Russian rubles in 2020 – the highest figure among other income models on the market. The advertising model's revenue exceeded 8.3 billion Russian rubles during that year, increasing by nearly one billion Russian rubles higher than its earnings throughout the previous year.

The rise of SVOD in Russia

In 2018, Russian VOD platforms’ revenue was for the first time dominated by the subscription (SVOD) monetization model rather than ad-supported VOD (AVOD). Furthermore, looking at a wider spectrum of legal video service providers in the country, SVOD was forecast to increase its revenue share from 42.6 percent in 2020 to 46.8 percent in 2024, becoming the leading market segment. Across the whole region of Eastern Europe, the share of SVOD in the over-the-top (OTT) TV and video revenue was expected to nearly double between 2020 and 2025.

VOD consumption in Russia

Nearly one quarter of the Russian population aged 12 years and older used VOD platforms at least once a month on average over the period from May to July 2021. In the corresponding period of the previous year, the reach was higher due to the lockdown caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. The most active consumers of VOD platforms were 18-to-24-year-olds, one fifth of whom streamed films and series almost daily. Seven out of ten Russians reported having used trial subscriptions for video content.