Rutube

RUTUBE is a Russian video platform. It includes a library of licensed content including movies, series, cartoons, shows, and live broadcasts. It also hosts blogs, podcasts, game streams, and educational content.

RUTUBE has web, iOS, Android and Smart TV versions. Its audience increased from 7,7 millions in January 2022 to over 50 millions in March 2022.

Service model

RUTUBE offers free access to content and profits on advertisement videos.

All downloaded content is checked by moderators to block anything that is pornographic, insulting, spam, advocates drug use or violence, or is otherwise abusive and in violation of established rules. The platform uses Content ID for copyright protection.

Since 2007, the service has supported built-in media players and creation of whole-scale sections on third-party websites via an API. To ensure the posting of legal content, the platform uses a widget which enables navigation by release, season, and episode for TV shows and series. As part of an affiliate program, RUTUBE shares income from advertisements with the owners of resources who host the player.

History

Incorporation of the service and search for investors, 2006–2007

RUTUBE was launched by Oleg Volobuyev and Mikhail Paulkin—entrepreneurs from Oryol and co-owners of a popular multiplayer browser online game based on Dozory, a franchise of novels and short stories by Sergey Lukiyanenko. In an interview with the Business Journal and the iTV channel, the founders said that they had been working on the video service since 2004–2005. Mr. Volobuyev said that the I-vision.ru service, which they had developed, was an ActiveX-based browser plugin supporting p2p video chats and streams and could capture videos from devices connected to a (personal computer) PC and process those on the client side. He said that ActiveX control elements created a risk of malware infiltration, so the team had to switch to Flash Video. By the time, YouTube, a US video hosting service, had gained popularity, and the Russian developers characterized their service as Russian YouTube. RUTUBE received the status of a video hosting service in 2006.

In 2007, the founders employed Askar Tuganbayev as the producer of RUTUBE; previously, he had managed ATB Internet projects and worked as a producer at O2TV and Gameland TV. While staying in Moscow, Tuganbayev built relationships with partners and looked for an investor for the company. RUTUBE attracted some private investors, Mangrove Capital Partners Venture Fund and Gazprom Media Group, which was entering the Internet market. Negotiation with Gazprom-Media started in summer of 2007, and legal arrangements lasted from March 2008 through November 2008. Speculations on the deal's size stirred up public interest. The Kommersant claimed that the 100 percent capital of the company ranged from $5 mln to $15 mln; in an interview with the Vedomosti, Dmitry Grishin, German Klimenko, and Viktor Lavrenko suggested $5 mln to $10 mln, $3 mln to $5 mln, and $1 mln respectively. In summer 2008, the Kommersant stated that the RUTUBE control stake had been acquired at $15 mln in total, and that the founders had received motivation payments.

Ownership by Gazprom Media 2008–2012

At the stage of arrangements, Tuganbayev had to leave the company due to the expiry of his annual contract. The end of the deal was marked with a major staff reshuffle. Developers and systemic administrators were moved to a separate company, and the holding passed technical development and video hosting support over to it. RUTUBE hired media managers, set up a commercial service, designers, and editors, whose responsibility was choosing topics for materials. Former head of the department of management of TNT-owned channels—Mikhail Ilyochov—took up the position of Chief Executive Officer. Vladimir Barabanov, former corporate director of the Hurst Shkulyov Media Publishing House, was appointed as Chief Development Officer. The changes fitted with RUTUBE's new development strategy of a socially-oriented platform.

In October 2010, the RUTUBE player was integrated into VKontakte. In April next year, a section was added to Odnoklassniki with the video platform's content, and ad campaigns were launched in September. Also, in September 2011, paid video content was added—live Russian Football League streams maintained in cooperation with NTV-Plus, a satellite TV provider. In October, the user stream service, which had worked since the launch of the platform, stopped working.

In March 2011, under the supervision of the RUTUBE managerial staff, the Now.ru online movie theater was launched in the service's technical base, whose library included licensed content provided by Sony Pictures, The Walt Disney Company, Warner Bros., Playboy, Lionsgate, BBC
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