Russia is a rapidly growing market for online video.
Therefore, it's no surprise that two of the most prominent Web-based providers of movies and television shows are reportedly interested in launching services in the country.
Executives from Hulu and Netflix have met with Russian content owners and technical companies, Digital TV Europe reported, citing Russian newspaper Vedomosti. Hulu's senior vice president, Johannes Larcher, is said to have attended meetings in Russia while assessing demand for streaming video services.
Based on unique viewers of online video content, Russia ranks ahead of such large European countries as Italy, United Kingdom and Spain, according to data over the summer from comScore Video Metrix. In August 2011, 42.3 million Russian users 15 years old or older watched a video in August, the data revealed. Russians watched more than 4.2 billion videos in August while the average viewer spent 12 hours consuming online videos the previous month, the data revealed.
"Russian video is catching up with penetration of other major markets," comScore said in a report describing the online video market in Russia.
