CTC Media


Kids round-up: Disney+ Hotstar’s Cosmos-Maya commission; Tencent takes ‘Chickpea’; TeamTO staff changes; and more

Disney+ Hotstar orders 200+ eps from Cosmos-Maya Indian streaming service Disney+ Hotstar has commissioned an unprecedented 234 episodes of Asian prodco Cosmos-Maya’s animated series Selfie With Bajrangi. The multi-season deal will see Cosmos-Maya produce three series of 78 x 11-minute episodes for the platform. The cartoon, which follows the adventures of the young Ankush and […]

Russian nets form pact for Hollywood deals

A trio of Russian broadcasters have allied to group-buy content from the Hollywood studios, according to a local report. Kommersant claims CTC Media, National Media Group and YUTV will team up to drive down costs of buying American programming for their channels. The reports adds the trio will also combine online advertising and TV channel […]

MTG turns in solid results as studio grows

Nordic and international pay and free TV outfit Modern Times Group turned in a solid Q4 performance, helping to compensate for the SEK1 billion (US$114.7 million) non-cash charge it took last year on currency translation differences related to its divestment of Russia’s CTC Media. The group posted Q4 sales of SEK5 billion from continuing operations, […]

SVT drama chief joins Pinewood TV

Swedish pubcaster SVT’s drama chief is joining the fledgling London-based outfit Pinewood Television to oversee its coproduction strategy. Christian Wikander has been named coproduction director at the prodco, which is part of British studios company Pinewood Group. He will report to Pinewood TV creative director Helen Gregory, who joined the establish the division last year […]

CTC merger reorg moves forward following sale

CTC Media has received a licence from the US Treasury Department authorising it to proceed with its previously announced cash-out merger deal. In a statement, the Russian broadcaster said that it is finalising preparations for the merger, and is awaiting the receipt of a tax refund from the US Internal Revenue Service, which will form […]

CTC takes female-skewed net abroad

Russian broadcaster CTC Media has launched an international version of its female-focused thematic channel Domashny TV. Domashny TV International is now available via SES’s Astra 5B satellite to viewers in Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, Israel, Kazakhstan, Belarus, Moldova, Georgia, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Kyrgyzstan and across Europe. The channel began test transmissions late last year. Domashny TV International […]

Pinewood in drama JV with CTC founder

British studio Pinewood Group has moved into high-end drama creation and financing through a new joint venture with CTC Media founder Peter Gerwe. Pinewood and Gerwe’s StoryFirst PST have created Pinewood Television, which will “create, develop and finance high quality drama series for television for the international market”. It also plans to be involved with […]

Russian gov’t approves CTC Media sale

The Russian government has given the green light to CTC Media’s planned sale to UTH Russia-affiliated UTV Management. The Russian Government Commission responsible for the Control of Foreign Investments in the Russian Federation approved the deal, while CTC Media’s largest stockholder, MTG Russia, has also backed the sale in a proxy vote ahead of a […]

Russia’s CTC builds channel for ‘real men’

Russia’s CTC Media is due to launch its new Che Channel on November 12, replacing humour and reality TV network Peretz with a channel aimed at men “who love their country”. Announcing the launch, CTC said that Che will be a reflection of the lifestyle, interests and core values of a “real man”, with ‘Che’ […]