Russia


Russia weighs new foreign ownership limits

Russian legislators have called for a ceiling of 20% to be imposed on foreign ownership of media outlets. Sergei Zheleznyak, the deputy secretary of the ruling United Russia party, said that the proposed law – a draft of which was published yesterday – is designed to guarantee Russia’s “information sovereignty” by decreasing the influence of […]

Pact embarks on Russia mission amid tension, ad ban fears

UK producers association Pact will go ahead with a three-day trip to Russia amid political tensions between the country and the West and concerns an upcoming advertising ban could impact channels’ programming plans. Pact enables its members connect with broadcasters and fellow production companies internationally with missions to trade fairs, including MIPCOM, and to countries […]

Ukraine’s 1+1 clamping down on Russian series

Ukrainian free-to-air broadcast group 1+1 Media has issued new guidelines on Russian-originated programming as the tensions and crisis between the two states continue. A 1+1 Media spokesman confirmed to TBI that changes were being made regarding Russian programming and noted that they will cover all of the channels the group operates. It runs seven channels […]

Russian advertising market sees lower growth in 2012

Overall annual growth in the advertising market in Russia slowed last year to 13%, according to the country’s Association of Communication Agencies (AKAR). The total value of the market was about RUB300 billion (US$10 billion). The rate of growth was considerably lower than the 21% recorded in 2011. TV advertising accounted for RUB143.2 billion, up […]

Management shake-up at Discovery

Discovery Networks has rejigged several senior management positions with Phillip Luff taking a new position, James Gibbons relocating to take a new UK-based role and Egor Borisov leaving the channel operator. As part of the shake-up James Gibbons will replace Phillip Luff as country manager for emerging business and work out of Discovery’s UK hub. […]

Viasat slam dunks NBA deal

MTG’s Nordic pay TV broadcaster Viasat has signed a deal with US basketball association the NBA to bring matches to Russia, the CIS and Georgia. The Viasat Sport East channel will broadcast up to five regular season games each week along with major NBA events including the NBA All-Star, the complete Eastern and Western Conference […]

Russian PM signs decree to set up public broadcaster

Russia’s prime minister Dmitry Medvedev has signed a decree to establish a public broadcasting service. The decree sets the framework for the new non-profit broadcasting organization. The organisation, OTR, is headed by Anatoly Lysenko as director-general. Igor Naigovzin has reportedly been appointed as technical director, while programming will reportedly be the responsibility of Stanislav Arkhipov, […]