MTS launches KION OTT platform

Vyacheslav Nikolaev

Russian telco Mobile TeleSystems (MTS) has launched the KION OTT streaming platform.

The service features thousands of films and hundreds of TV channels in addition to a slate of original programming to launch on KION this year. MTS said that KION aims to bring together world-class licensed content with a steady stream of unique, exclusive titles including feature films, documentaries, and comedy and drama series. 

The operator added that the library will be supplemented from leading Russian TV network Channel One.

KION’s library will also be supplemented with content from MTS partner Channel One Russia, the country’s most-watched TV network.

The platform also introduces a new ‘flexible film format’ dubbed kinostories. These films can be watched in a single session or as a series of specially-edited 10-15 minute segments. 

MTS President and CEO Vyacheslav Nikolaev said: “Launching an online streaming platform under a new brand is a major milestone for MTS as well as a strategic step forward. I am confident that KION will provide viewers an exhilarating experience full of excitement and emotion. This provides a great opportunity for us to strengthen brand loyalty across the entire MTS ecosystem. By tying the platform into our other services — as well as leveraging our big data and AI capabilities – KION will be able to provide customers a unique, personalized content offering at an attractive price point.”

MTS Media CEO Igor Mishin said: “Our new streaming platform will help guide viewers through the universe of stories. KION is always online and ready to share exciting events one after another – a hypermarket of experiences. Looking ahead, we have filled our pipeline with a slate of originals, with new exclusives premiering every month in 2021. We are launching new formats and building a personalized recommendation system that will provide a qualitatively new viewing experience – in the future content will adapt to our lifestyles, and not vice versa.”