MTG
Acquires
50%
of
Russian
DTH
Satellite
Pay-TV
Platform
Modern
Times
Group
MTG
AB
has
acquired
50%
of
Raduga
Holdings
S.A.
(‘Raduga’)
from
Continental
Media
S.A.
for
an
undisclosed
consideration
in
cash.
Raduga
is
the
sole
owner
of
LCC
DaoGeoCom,
which
operates
Russian
nationwide
DTH
satellite
pay-TV
platform
Raduga
TV.
Raduga
TV
was
launched
in
February
2009
and
had
70,000
active
subscribers
as
at
31
December
2009.
The
platform
offers
a
package
of
more
than
50
TV
channels,
including
a
wide
range
of
Russian
channels,
as
well
as
the
localised
versions
of
leading
international
channel
brands
such
as
Discovery
Channel
Russia,
Eurosport
Russia,
National
Geographic
and
Jetix.
The
package
also
includes
Viasat
Broadcasting’s
Viasat
History,
Viasat
Explorer,
TV1000
Russian
Kino,
TV1000
East
and
TV1000
Action
East
channels.
Russian
networks
CTC,
Domashny
and
DTV,
which
are
operated
by
CTC
Media,
Inc.,
are
also
available
on a
free-to-air
basis
on
the
platform
together
with
a
number
of
other
Russian
free-TV
channels.
MTG
owns
39.4%
of
CTC
Media,
Inc.
The
Raduga
TV
channel
package
is
priced
at
RUB
300
(approximately
USD
10)
per
month
on a
three
or
six
month
pre-paid
contract
basis.
The
channels
are
encrypted
with
the
Irdeto
conditional
access
system
and
made
available
through
the
Asian
Broadcasting
Satellite
ABS-1
(75°
East)
Northern
Beam,
which
covers
more
than
90%
of
the
Russian
Federation
and
is
managed
by
Russian
satellite
operator
GeoTelecommunicatons
(GT).
Subscriptions
can
be
purchased
from
retailers
across
Russia.
The
remaining
50%
interest
in
Raduga
has
been
retained
by
Continental
Media
S.A.
The
two
owners
will
share
management
control
of
Raduga,
which
will
be
proportionately
consolidated
by
MTG
and
reported
in
the
Group’s
‘Pay-TV
Emerging
Markets’
business
segment
within
the
Viasat
Broadcasting
business
area.
Viasat
Broadcasting
will
now
provide
DTH
satellite
TV
services
in a
total
of
nine
countries
–
Sweden,
Norway,
Denmark,
Finland,
Estonia,
Latvia,
Lithuania,
Ukraine
and
Russia
–
and
distribute
its
Viasat
branded
channels
via
third
party
operators
in
25
countries
across
Central
and
Eastern
Europe
and
in
the
US.
The
nine
platforms
have
over
one
million
subscribers.
The
pay-TV
channels
had
attracted
over
39
million
subscriptions
as
at
31
September
2009.
Hans-Holger
Albrecht,
President
and
CEO
of
MTG,
commented:
“We
are
delighted
to
have
forged
this
strong
partnership
to
develop
a
competitive
pay-TV
distribution
platform
in
Europe’s
largest
market
by
number
of
TV
households.
Our
Viasat
channels
are
already
well
known
by
subscribers
across
Russia.
We
are
an
integrated
TV
broadcaster,
operating
free
and
pay-TV
businesses
across
multiple
markets,
and
Russia
is
one
of
the
most
attractive
pay-TV
markets
in
the
world”.
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