Digital television in Russia

2019

Russians should throw out Set-top boxes and to spend 50 billion rubles for new

Creation of the uniform supplier of content of 20 obligatory TV channels on the Internet will involve from users additional costs in 50 billion rubles. On November 26, 2019 the RBC edition with reference to justification of changes to the second reading of the bill reported about it.

According to the bill, Roskomnadzor will select one organization for online broadcast of TV channels from the Internet. 20 federal channels and all video services and operators who want to broadcast these channels will be obliged to use a player of this organization.

Creation of the uniform supplier of content of 20 obligatory TV channels on the Internet will involve from users additional costs in 50 billion rubles

As the vice president of Association of cable television of Russia Mikhail Silin explained that in case of adoption of the bill as it stands a part of subscribers of operators of paid TV should change prefixes as on them it will be impossible to set updating, necessary for a uniform player. According to him, 50 billion rubles are maximum assessment which recognizes that paid TV using such equipment is watched by about 15 million subscribers, and the prefix on average is more expensive than 3 thousand rubles.

As operators, as a rule, bought not the most expensive prefixes for subscribers, on most of them it is technically impossible to update remotely the software, Silin noted.

It is obvious that not all 15 million subscribers are ready to spend for new prefixes. Operators also are not ready to such investments. The audience will just refuse viewing channels of the first and second multiplex what broadcasters as a result will suffer from — he considers.

In turn, authors of the offer among whom MegaFon, VimpelCom, "Trikolortv" and others, advise to abandon the claim about obligatory installation of a player. Then large players will be able to receive a signal directly from the channel and to extend it using own software, and the player will be used by small Internet platforms that will not involve additional costs.^[1]

The Government of the Russian Federation approved creation of the uniform Internet TV

At the end of October, 2019 the Government of the Russian Federation approved the bill of creation of the uniform supplier of content of broadcasting TV channels on the Internet. Market participants negatively reacted to an initiative.

The withdrawal of the Cabinet of Ministers about creation in Russia of the uniform Internet TV is published in an automated system of ensuring legislative activity of the State Duma. The document was signed by the Deputy Prime Minister Konstantin Chuychenko, in it there are no notes.

The Government of the Russian Federation approved the bill of creation of the uniform supplier of content of broadcasting TV channels on the Internet

The head of State Duma Committee on Informational Policy, Information Technology and Communication Leonid Lyovin and his first deputy Sergey Boyarsky became authors of the draft of amendments to laws on communication, on advertizing, on information and on media. According to them, centralized operation by content will improve quality of broadcastings and will protect citizens from "illegal advertizing and illegal radio inserts". Will suggest to select the uniform supplier of content of radio TV from the Internet to Roskomnadzor.

The project was criticized by the Association of Cable Television of Russia (ACTR), Association of regional telecom operators "Rosteleset", Channel One, Tricolour, MegaFon, MTS, VimpelCom and "Yandex". The Federal Antimonopoly Service (FAS) called "extremely dangerous" an exception of any subject of antimonopoly restrictions and did not support the project.

The bill assumes almost boundless opportunities for promotion of business interests of authorized organization and pressure upon other players, depriving of them a possibility of direct interaction — reported Kommersant in Trikolor company.

Creation of the Internet TV is supported by "National Media group" which is headed by Alina Kabayeva. "Subsidiary" of NMG "Vitrina-TV" is going to come on tender at the choice of the supplier. The holding considers that the platform will help channels to fight against piracy broadcastings in Network.^[2]

Russia finally turned off analog telecasting

On October 14, 2019 official shutdown of analog telecasting in Russia took place. The country completely passed to digital TV.

The ceremony of transition to digital broadcasting took place in the Russian Mission Control Center (MCC). The astronaut Alexander Skvortsov who is on the International Space Station during the direct communication session with TsUP pressed the symbolical button on the notebook, having given a signal to shutdown of analog on-air broadcasting.

Analog telecasting in Russia was cut down from an ISS board

Today I have an important mission: announce the end of transition of Russia to digital television. Still slightly, and all our country will be in "digit  — Skvortsov said, having clicked after that on the computer.

According to RIA Novosti with reference to the Ministry of Telecom and Mass Communications, number of those who notice transition from "analog" to "digit" makes about 1.5-2%. All others watch cable, digital or satellite television. As for sales of television receivers, Russians give preference to smart TV more and more, noted in department.

Transition means shutdown of an analog signal in the territory of the whole country. Digital broadcasting is available only to those Russians whose TVs support DVB-T2 format.

From analog to digital on-air television broadcasting Russia began transition during 2019. Moscow, Moscow area and 18 more regions were connected to digital television in the middle of April.

Within a final stage of transition to "digit" analog broadcasting was turned off in 21 more regions. It concerned including St. Petersburg and the Leningrad Region, the Crimea, Chelyabinsk, Astrakhan and other areas, Karelia, Tatarstan and Bashkiria, Dagestan, Ingushetia and Transbaikalia.

Within a week on federal TV channels the video with the story about how to configure digital television will be shown.^[3]

The Accounts Chamber of the Russian federation published the amount of expenses on transition to digital television

On October 9, 2019 the Accounts Chamber of the Russian Federation published the amount of expenses on transition to digital television. Investments from different sources made 167.5 billion rubles, including 97.1 billion rubles of the state budget.

Nearly a half of budget money (43.7 billion rubles) went for construction of land networks of digital TV broadcasting which was executed by the state operator "Russian Television and Broadcasting Network" (RTRS). For achievement of goals of the program it is the enterprise constructed and upgraded 5040 subjects to broadcasting and created 84 centers of formation of multiplexes.

The Accounts Chamber of the Russian federation published the amount of expenses on transition to digital television

The Accounts Chamber pointed out also some defects of a management system for implementation of the target program. As noted in department, course of execution of the FTP "Development of TV and radio broadcasting in the Russian Federation for 2009 - 2018" was controlled only on the course of construction of infrastructure. When in 2015 prolonged terms of implementation of the FTP, in it did not consider work on informing the population on transition to digital broadcasting that decided already later out of FTP actions.

Also it is said in the statement of Accounts Chamber, by October, 2019 program implementation is complete, but works on accounting and a design of the constructed objects are not finished. However already during conducting check and including in connection with the beginning of check this work became more active, both from RTRS, and from Rosimushchestvo.

Besides, the text of the program changed 9 times, including tasks and target indicators, and a final version was approved only in 16 days prior to its end.

According to the results of program implementation access to free digital television was provided to 98.4% of citizens. It well digital broadcasting of 20 TV-channels — it corresponds to target indicators, noted in department.^[4]

Шаблон:Online video Subject

Notes