Sistema Mass-Media hit by shifts in production schedule

Russian conglomerate Sistema’s Sistema Mass-Media division saw its revenues and operating income plummet in the first quarter of this year, despite a 15% uptick in subscribers to its Stream-TV pay TV services.

Sistema Mass-Media’s revenues fell by 58.7% to US$11 million (€8.3 million) year-on-year, which the company said was “largely due to shifts in the production schedule”. Sistema said the unit reported an OIBDA loss for the quarter “reflecting the decline in revenues” of US$3 million, compared with a profit of US$11 million for the same period last year.

Stream-TV’s subscriber base grew by 15% year-on-year to reach 7.7 million subscribers.

Movie and TV production business RWS’s content library amounted to 1,613 hours at the end of the first quarter.