Content of Russian Online Television Channels: Distribution and Monetization Technologies

Section: New Media

Nowadays, the online video market is the fastest growing segment of the Russian media market, which results in the audience loss by traditional media like television, radio and the press. Seeking to retain audiences, Russian broadcasters are going digital. The aim of this research is to study the digital distribution by Russian broadcasters. Therefore, the author sets the following sub-aims: to find out what goals are pursued by broadcasters when distributing online; discover if the type of content influences the choice of the distribution channels; verify if Russian broadcasters develop the program brands online separately from the channel brands. The author studied two groups of Russian television channels and found out that broadcasters’ most frequent goal is to monetize content online; various types of content have different target audiences and, consequently, different distribution techniques. The results also showed that broadcasters divide the audience of their programs in social media and mobile applications, so that they could develop program brands separately.

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