Author(s): Valentin V. Matvienko, Parizod A. Gafurova and Elena S. Mirzaeva
Aim of the Study: The business models of foreign TV channels that actively entered the Russian market at first meant only generating revenue from subscription fees. This was the basis of the cable operators ' business. Mostly TV channels used the services of distribution companies. Only a few of them, such as Nickelodeon, BBC Prime, TV XXI, have long represented themselves. Cooperation with one of the Russian partners, which they eventually agreed to, doubled their business in Russia in less than a year. But the operators wanted more diverse and unique content, on the basis of which they could form package offers. After all, the vast majority of broadcasters sought to get only in the basic packages. This limited the ability to segment the operator's offer. In addition, there are several difficult moments in relations with foreign TV companies. First, payments had to be made in foreign currency, while Russian partners would prefer to stay in the ruble zone due to the inconvenience of paying in foreign currency. Methodology: The production and distribution of television content is subject to the laws of the market economy to the same extent as for any other product. The content is created for the sales and profits of its producers. This is an axiom. But how such a task is solved is already the subtleties of marketing. In Russia, three main business models in the television industry were formed spontaneously: paid subscription, sale of airtime for advertising, and mixed, combining the first two. The intervention of the state regulator in this issue is likely to eliminate two of them, making all thematic television in the country only paid.. Conclusion: Today, advertising is not sold except on premium HD channels. Either the subscription more than pays for the cost of their production and distribution, or there are not enough subscribers to present to advertisers. However, even in this segment, distribution strategies and business models may differ significantly. The classical scheme can be considered a thing of the past. There is practically no broadcaster left that produces a TV channel based on exclusive content and simply sells it to premium packages of digital platform operators. This is mainly due to a decrease in the level of exclusivity of content that is increasingly available on the air of the basic package channels.