VIASAT Broadcasting Adds CTC-International To Its Pay-TV Offering In The Baltics

31 October 2011

Viasat Broadcasting has signed a five year exclusive agreement with CTC Media, Russia’s leading independent media company, to distribute the international version of the CTC channel in the Baltic territories. The channel will be broadcast on the Viasat satellite pay-TV platform, as well as on third party cable and IPTV networks. Viasat Broadcasting is a subsidiary of Modern Times Group (MTG), which owns 38.2% of CTC Media.

CTC-International will be made available from 31 October 2011 to Viasat subscribers in Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania. The channel offers the most popular content from CTC Media’s three channels in Russia – CTC, Domashny and Peretz.

“We are delighted to now be able to offer the CTC-International channel to the large number of Russian speakers in the Baltic countries. The international version of CTC contains the most successful and exciting programming of all three CTC Media channels including series, sitcoms, dramas, comedies and musical entertainment shows. CTC-International further strengthens Viasat’s offering in the region,” said Kaspars Ozolins, CEO MTG Broadcasting, Baltics.

Viacheslav Sinadski, Chief Strategy Officer of CTC Media, commented: “CTC-International is one of the newest offerings of CTC Media and, since its launch less than two years ago, the channel has become a great success. CTC-International is already available in the US, Israel and Germany, and we are very proud to now offer the channel to viewers in all three Baltic countries. The launch of CTC-International in the Baltics opens new opportunities for the execution of our expansion strategy in Europe. The Baltic states have an impressive potential audience of two million Russian-speaking viewers.”