Media Entrepreneurs and Market Dynamics

Abstract

The post-Soviet space has seen a large-scale transformation of media markets that is marked with an unprecedented rise of entrepreneurial initiatives across business sectors, including media businesses. This paper analysed the dynamics of Russian media markets and the challenges of Russian media entrepreneurs. The media markets of Russia shifted toward more concentration and fragmentation, and media holdings are continuously gaining more power. This paper also looked at the regional media markets of Russia. According to research, there are less than 20 self-sustainable regional media holdings in Russia due to the low capacity of regional advertising markets. National media holdings have a diversified portfolio consisting of different types of media with a growing fraction of digital media companies, and the regional media lag behind in terms of its digital component. Most regional media holdings operate traditional media. Their digital channels are yet to be developed, despite the chief executives' acknowledgement that the future of revenue streams comes from digital channels.