Rostelecom and the National Media Group (NMG) announce a deal to merge video services more.tv and Wink in a joint venture (JV). The combined service will operate under the Wink brand and intends to become one of the leaders of the online cinema market in Russia. Rostelecom President Mikhail Oseevsky and NMG CEO Svetlana Balanova signed the documents on the deal on June 15 at the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum.
Rostelecom's share in the authorized capital of the joint venture will be 70%, and NMG’s - 30%. The online cinema more tv and 50% of shares in "NMG Studio" were transmitted by the NMG side. Rostelecom, in turn, transmits the Wink online cinema, including a single platform for working in OTT and IPTV environments.
Technological integration of more platforms.tv and Wink will be held in stages. Both companies are interested in maintaining the highest quality service for users of the combined online cinema. Until the integration procedures are completed, subscribers will continue to use the Wink and more.tv on current terms. The joint venture will also consider options for further use of the more.tv for solving business problems.
"The Russian media market is undergoing a serious transformation in terms of content production, distribution and monetization. New challenges mean new opportunities at the same time. Combining our capacities in alliance with Rostelecom, the leader in the interactive television market in Russia, will significantly strengthen the position of the updated online cinema in the competitive Russian market and create an excellent product and service for users. The long—term expertise of NMG as a producer of successful media content for different viewing environments will allow us to effectively build the content strategy of a new player in the interests of consumers and the market," said Svetlana Balanova, CEO of the National Media Group.
"In our joint venture, the participants combine their strengths and competencies. On the part of Rostelecom, it is the fastest-growing video service in the country, which in a short time came in second place in terms of the number of paying subscribers and is among the leaders in customer experience (NPS). On the part of NMG — broad competencies and experience in the production of unique film serial content represented by “NMG Studio”, as well as a library and more.tv subscriber base. Thus, the joint venture will be able to accelerate the development of the combined assets, increase its share in the rapidly growing market and offer the best exclusive content that takes into account the full range of requests and interests of our multimillion audience across the country," said President of Rostelecom
Mikhail Oseevsky.
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Background information
The National Media Group is the largest Russian private media holding. NMG manages a diversified portfolio of assets in the production, distribution and monetization of high-quality information and entertainment content in all media environments.
Among the key assets of the holding are the leaders of the Russian media market: terrestrial TV channels — REN TV, Channel Five, CTC Channel, Domashny, Che, CTC Love, CTC Kids; Multimedia Information Center MIC Izvestia (as part of the portal IZ.RU, Izvestia newspaper, Izvestia TV channel, news services of REN TV channels and Channel Five); as well as newspapers — "Sport-Express", "Business Petersburg". The Group owns a stake in Channel One.
The holding owns the company "NMG Studio". In 2019 NMG launched an online service more.tv. In November 2022, the holding company announced the creation of a film distribution company "NMG Kinoprokat". In June 2023, Holding announced a partnership with Bazelevs studio.
Wink is a digital video service of Rostelecom, one of the top 3 Russian online cinemas by the number of subscribers.
Wink combines the advantages of interactive television (more than 300 TV channels) and an online cinema with an excellent collection of movies, TV series, cartoons, concerts and other content, including blogging, for every taste (60,000 positions). It is available on home TV screens (using a set-top box, applications in Smart TV, Apple TV and Android TV), smartphone or tablet (using mobile applications for Android and iOS), laptop and computer (on the wink.ru video portal). Audiobooks and karaoke are also available in the service.
Wink is a basic online cinema in the tariff lines of Rostelecom and mobile operator Tele2, also presented in VK Combo and Fire GPB subscriptions.
more.tv is an online service of the National Media Group, which has combined its own projects in the more originals line, foreign premieres of TV series and films, exclusive content and live broadcast of popular Russian TV channels in one place. Content can be viewed on the service for free with ads or in a single subscription. The service is available via a browser on any desktop computers and laptops, as well as in applications for iOS, Android, Android TV and Apple TV, Samsung Smart TV and LG Smart TV (webOS).