Aleksey Zemsky, general manager of NTV, also took part in the panel discussion. He spoke about the interaction between the state and market players, and also shared statistics on the viewing of NTV’s content on digital platforms. Zemsky then pointed out the importance of cooperating with telecom operators and future content delivery systems related to broadband and 5G.
There was a separate session at the forum devoted to the production and distribution of Russian film content. Rafael Minasbekyan, general manager of the group of companies GPM KIT, spoke about their plans to develop the rental of auteur cinema as part of the recently created White Nights company. As of today, there are two new films in the post-production stage of KIT Film Studios - Gerda and Doctor Lisa, which will be released by the new film distributor. The speaker added that the emergence of digital platforms and new data on content consumption influences how movies and TV series are made in terms of genres and formats.
Rafael Minasbekyan also emphasized the growing interest among viewers to domestic films. In this way, Gazprom-Media’s share in the box office earnings from domestic films has grown to 58% last year. The company has doubled the number of Russian films that were released in theatres and is making big investments in the creation of Russian films. Over the last three years, Gazprom-Media invested in 32 films, among which are Kholop (The Peasant), Ryad 19 (Row 19), Serebryanye Konki (Silver Skates), Yaga. Koshmar Tyomnogo Lesa (Yaga. Nightmare of the Dark Forest) and others. The company also invests in the foreign production of films and TV series. Last year, the film studio began scripting a new international project, John Paul Jones, in collaboration with the screenwriter Daniel Knauf.
A session dedicated to copyright protection also took place as part of CSTB 2020. Katerina Mironova, deputy general manager of GPM RTV and general manager of Uma.Tekh, spoke about the fight against illegal content and the legal measures to strengthen the fight against media piracy. She noted that the market is developing very fast technologically, so it is necessary to anticipate how pirates will act, and to constantly boost and improve anti-piracy laws. Gazprom-Media is constantly working on protecting its content in the digital environment. Thus, more than 10 million links that contained pirated content were identified and blocked in 2018 and 2019.
Evgeny Meites, deputy general manager of Match TV, spoke at the session “New life of broadcasting technologies”, which focused on the prospects of innovative technologies. He noted that their application depends on the readiness of facilities and telecom-operators to use them.
Roman Antonenko, the commercial director of NTV channel, shared the possibilities of using HbbTV interactive technology for broadcasters and cameramen and presented the channel’s case studies. The HbbTV tool ensures strong involvement by the viewer in communication while viewing content. NTV channel was one of the first to use HbbTV technology to carry out interactive content mechanics and advertising campaigns. Antonenko noted that in 2020 industry participants will have to coordinate their efforts to standardize advertising formats and promote given advertising products.
Two representatives of NTV-Plus company participated in the session. The director of NTV-Plus’ new products department Sergei Stepaniuc participated in a discussion dedicated to the development of television in the era of the fourth industrial revolution, while the director of the company’s digital products department Konstantin Smirnov took part in the session dedicated to the discussion of new Russian OTT-services and pricing issues.
Media & CSTB.Telecom 2020 is an international exhibition-forum, which brings together all professionals from the pay television, telecom and media industries. The event was held with the support of the Ministry of Digital Development, Communications and Mass Media of the Russian Federation, Roskomnadzor, Chamber of Commerce and Industry, and the Moscow Chamber of Commerce and Industry.
Nineteen themed sessions and events took place in Moscow in the span of three days, from 28 to 30 January, as part of CSTB. More than 200 top speakers took part in the forum.
