Poland and Russia will take a commanding lead of Eastern Europe’s streaming television market by the end of the decade, with two-thirds of streaming TV revenue coming from those two countries, according to a new report published this week.
The report, from Digital TV Research, says Eastern European revenue will eclipse €6.4 billion (around $7 billion) by 2029, with Russia accounting for nearly €900 million (around $1 billion) in streaming TV revenue and Poland contributing another €645 million (around $700 million).
“This means that the remaining 20 countries will share $2.57 billion – or an average of only $129 million each,” Simon Murray, the Principle Analyst at Digital TV Research, said in a statement.
The report concludes that subscription-based video on-demand (SVOD) services will contribute nearly €4 billion (around $4.3 billion) to the streaming TV economy in Eastern Europe by 2029. Russia and Poland will be the only countries to have SVOD revenue that will eclipse $1 billion in revenue, according to the report.
It wasn’t clear if the report — which costs £1,500 (around $1,900) to access — takes into account a number of foreign-based streaming services that have pulled out of Russia over the past few years following the country’s military action in neighboring Ukraine. Netflix, Amazon, Paramount Global, the Walt Disney Company, NBC Universal and Warner Bros Discovery are among the U.S.-based companies that have suspended operations in Russia.
Still, there are a number of premium streaming services available to Russian citizens, including Mubi, Smotrim, Kino Poisk and IVI TV. Combined, those streaming services have more than 10 million subscribers, according to estimates reviewed by The Desk.
