Rostelecom Deploys an “Entertainment Agent” Inside the Wink Streaming Platform
The new AI-based feature is designed to help users quickly navigate an increasingly vast content library, turning recommendation systems into an interactive layer of telecom-driven digital services.
An Agent That Quickly Identifies the Goal
Russian telecom operators continue to roll out artificial intelligence at scale, and not only in traditional infrastructure or enterprise products. AI is now moving deep into the consumer entertainment segment, where user experience and engagement directly affect platform competitiveness.
The Wink online cinema, together with Rostelecom, has announced the launch of beta testing for a new service called the “Entertainment Agent.” The solution is a software layer with AI elements embedded directly into the Wink interface. Its purpose is to solve one of the platform’s core pain point – helping viewers quickly find a movie or series that matches their mood and viewing context within an ocean of content. According to the developers, no Russian streaming service has previously implemented a similar AI agent in this form.
“As a viewer myself, I regularly face the problem of choosing what to watch. There is a huge volume of new films and series, and even more content already accumulated in streaming libraries – Wink alone offers more than 60,000 films and TV episodes. Where human judgment struggles, artificial intelligence can help, because processing massive datasets is far easier for an algorithm,” explains Anton Volodkin, CEO of the Wink online cinema.
Preparation Before Launch
The service was developed by a joint team from Rostelecom’s AI competence center and the Wink online cinema. Before being released to the public, the Entertainment Agent went through several months of preparatory work. Each piece of content in the Wink catalog was equipped with unique digital tags designed to accelerate search and matching across multiple parameters.
Neural networks were trained on large volumes of relevant data, including film and series description websites, audience reviews, and professional critiques. Emotional sentiment analysis was also incorporated to help match recommendations to a user’s mood. In addition, the system analyzed publications on social networks and messages from public channels in messengers to further refine personalized search and recommendation capabilities.
A Full-Fledged Character Within the Ecosystem
“Thanks to our joint efforts, we were the first to bring an AI agent of this kind to market, opening new horizons for film and series audiences. This is not just a chat assistant, but a full-fledged emotional ‘character’ within the Wink ecosystem. It will build a smart, personalized recommendation feed for each user, dynamically adapting to individual preferences and viewing history. After beta testing, the service will appear not only across all Wink platforms but also in popular social networks and messengers,” said Dariy Khalitov, Deputy President and Member of the Management Board at Rostelecom.
From a telecom perspective, this approach reflects a broader shift toward ecosystem-driven services, where AI agents become persistent interfaces linking content platforms, communication channels, and user data within a single digital environment.
Recommendation Systems Continue to Evolve
In practical terms, the Entertainment Agent represents another evolutionary step in content recommendation systems, an area actively developed by other Russian platforms as well. As early as 2002, developers at the Ivi online cinema introduced explainable recommendations, allowing users to understand why a particular film was being suggested.
In 2023, the Okko streaming service launched algorithm-driven “Top” content lists. These systems automatically analyze viewing behavior and generate entire collections of recommended content. The algorithms track audience viewing trends over time and form genre-based, demographic, and other curated selections.
More recently, the Kinopoisk platform released a major update featuring AI-powered personalization based on the Alice AI technology. The platform introduced storefronts for streaming services and TV channels, along with the ability to purchase subscriptions to third-party Russian video services. Interfaces and film description pages now automatically adapt to individual user preferences, delivering a more tailored viewing experience.
Looking ahead, the AI component of Russian online cinemas is expected to develop rapidly. Cross-platform algorithm integration is a likely next step, enabling recommendation engines to operate across multiple services and user touchpoints. The most successful solutions may ultimately become export-ready products, as demand for advanced recommendation technologies extends well beyond the Russian market.
