CTC Media
Encyclopedia
CTC Media, Incorporated (spelled “СТС Медиа” - “Es-Te-Es Media” in Russian
Russian language
Russian is a Slavic language used primarily in Russia, Belarus, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan. It is an unofficial but widely spoken language in Ukraine, Moldova, Latvia, Turkmenistan and Estonia and, to a lesser extent, the other countries that were once constituent republics...

) is a leading media company in Russia
Russia
Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...

. It owns and operates two national free–to–air TV networks in Russia (“CTC”, “Domashniy” and “Peretz”). It also operates two channels in the CIS
Commonwealth of Independent States
The Commonwealth of Independent States is a regional organization whose participating countries are former Soviet Republics, formed during the breakup of the Soviet Union....

 - Channel 31 in Kazakhstan
Kazakhstan
Kazakhstan , officially the Republic of Kazakhstan, is a transcontinental country in Central Asia and Eastern Europe. Ranked as the ninth largest country in the world, it is also the world's largest landlocked country; its territory of is greater than Western Europe...

 and a TV company in Uzbekistan
Uzbekistan
Uzbekistan , officially the Republic of Uzbekistan is a doubly landlocked country in Central Asia and one of the six independent Turkic states. It shares borders with Kazakhstan to the west and to the north, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan to the east, and Afghanistan and Turkmenistan to the south....

. “CTC Media” also owns two TV content production companies: “Costafilm
Costafilm
Costafilm specializes exclusively on programming for CTC. Costafilm provides CTC with dramas, sketch shows, TV films and sitcoms. Among its products are the original long-running series Cadets and the original Russian sitcom Daddy’s Girls, both among CTC’s most successful recent programs. Daddy’s...

” and “Soho–Media
Soho Media
Soho Media has been operating on the Russian TV market for over fifteen years. It specializes in the production of entertainment TV shows, such as the highly popular Minute of Fame and The Great Race. For the past five years Soho Media worked in close cooperation with FremantleMedia...

”.

Combined audience share for the “CTC”, “Domashiny” and “DTV” networks for 2007 – 12.9%

“CTC Media” has three shareholders: “National Media Group” (25,2%), “Itera
Itera
ITERA International Group of Companies is a Russia-based private-owned corporate group with headquarters in Moscow. Its core business primarily focuses on gas and gas processing...

” (25,2%) and “Modern Times Group AB
Modern Times Group
Modern Times Group is a Swedish media company. MTG was formed out of the media holdings of investment company Kinnevik, which in 1997 was distributed to the company stockholders. Among the assets were Viasat and Metro International...

” (39%). The company became public in 2006 and its common stock is traded on The NASDAQ
NASDAQ
The NASDAQ Stock Market, also known as the NASDAQ, is an American stock exchange. "NASDAQ" originally stood for "National Association of Securities Dealers Automated Quotations". It is the second-largest stock exchange by market capitalization in the world, after the New York Stock Exchange. As of...

 Global Select Market under the symbol: “CTCM”.

Market capitalization of “CTC Media” is approximately $4.3 billion (as of March 27, 2008).

Financial Highlights for 2007

Consolidated revenue increased 27% to $472 million

OIBDA increased 27% to $220 million

OIBDA margin of 46.7%

Net income increased 28% to $136 million.

History

“CTC Media” was founded by an American entrepreneur Peter Gerwe in 1989. Originally named StoryFirst Communications, renamed to CTC Media on 15th September 2004. In 1991, ““CTC” commenced broadcasting as a local channel in Saint Petersburg
Saint Petersburg
Saint Petersburg is a city and a federal subject of Russia located on the Neva River at the head of the Gulf of Finland on the Baltic Sea...

 from its first owned–and–operated station
Owned-and-operated station
In the broadcasting industry , an owned-and-operated station usually refers to a television station or radio station that is owned by the network with which it is associated...

. In 1994, it started to operate as a network: it broadcasted its programs from its station in Saint Petersburg
Saint Petersburg
Saint Petersburg is a city and a federal subject of Russia located on the Neva River at the head of the Gulf of Finland on the Baltic Sea...

 to a number of cities across Russia
Russia
Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...

. On December 1, 1996 “CTC” became a national free-to-air TV channel. For the first time in Russia, the network of a national channel was structured along the U.S. network broadcasting model. To its regional affiliates in exchange for air time it offered its brand and programming. “CTC” chooses stations with the largest technical penetration in the region as its affiliates.

In addition to the “CTC” television network, “CTC Media” launched the “Domashniy” television network in 2005 and recently have agreed to acquire the “Peretz” television network. These three networks together will include over 600 affiliates throughout the country and over 60 owned-and-operated television stations in Russia’s largest cities.

The “CTC” television network currently has about 350 affiliates and 19 owned–and–operated stations. The technical penetration of “CTC” is 87%, approximately 100 million people are within “CTC”’s signal reach.

Domashny’s signal currently reaches to approximately 63 million people. The Domashny Network has more than 230 affiliates, including 13 owned-and-operated stations.

As of February 2008, “Pepper TV”’s signal reached 60% of TNS Gallup measured households nationwide. The channel is distributed through 28 owned-and-operated TV stations in larger Russian cities and a number of affiliates.

Production

“CTC Media” has created an in-house production and proprietary program rights management function through the recent acquisitions of two production companies, “Costafilm
Costafilm
Costafilm specializes exclusively on programming for CTC. Costafilm provides CTC with dramas, sketch shows, TV films and sitcoms. Among its products are the original long-running series Cadets and the original Russian sitcom Daddy’s Girls, both among CTC’s most successful recent programs. Daddy’s...

” and “Soho–Media
Soho Media
Soho Media has been operating on the Russian TV market for over fifteen years. It specializes in the production of entertainment TV shows, such as the highly popular Minute of Fame and The Great Race. For the past five years Soho Media worked in close cooperation with FremantleMedia...

”.

Costafilm specializes exclusively on programming for “CTC”. “Costafilm” provides ““CTC” with dramatic programs
Dramatic programming
Dramatic programming in the UK, or television drama and television drama series in the US, is television program content that is scripted and fictional along the lines of √a traditional drama. This excludes, for example, sports television, television news, reality show and game shows, stand-up...

, sketch shows, TV films and sitcoms. Among its products are the original long-running series Cadets and the first original Russian sitcom “Daddy’s Daughters” “(Russian: ru:Папины дочки|Папины дочки)”, both among ““CTC”’s most successful recent programs. It is a comedy about a single father and his five daughters. “Cadets” is an original Russian series about a daily life of boys enrolled in a military school. On many projects “Costafilm
Costafilm
Costafilm specializes exclusively on programming for CTC. Costafilm provides CTC with dramas, sketch shows, TV films and sitcoms. Among its products are the original long-running series Cadets and the original Russian sitcom Daddy’s Girls, both among CTC’s most successful recent programs. Daddy’s...

” works in cooperation with the premier TV content producers such as “Sony Pictures Entertainment
Sony Pictures Entertainment
Sony Pictures Entertainment, Inc. is the television and film production/distribution unit of Japanese multinational technology and media conglomerate Sony...

”, “Buena Vista
Buena Vista (Walt Disney Company)
Buena Vista is a brand name frequently used for divisions of The Walt Disney Company, whose primary studios and offices are located on Buena Vista Street in Burbank, California. It was originally created by Walt Disney in 1953 after the release of Peter Pan to distribute his film and television...

”, and “FremantleMedia
FremantleMedia
FremantleMedia, Ltd. is the content and production division of Bertelsmann's RTL Group, Europe's second largest TV, radio, and production company...

”.

Soho–Media
Soho Media
Soho Media has been operating on the Russian TV market for over fifteen years. It specializes in the production of entertainment TV shows, such as the highly popular Minute of Fame and The Great Race. For the past five years Soho Media worked in close cooperation with FremantleMedia...

” has been operating on the Russian TV market for over fifteen years. It specializes in the production of entertainment TV shows, such as the highly popular “Minute of Fame” and “The Great Race
The Great Race
The Great Race is a 1965 slapstick comedy film starring Jack Lemmon, Tony Curtis, and Natalie Wood, directed by Blake Edwards, written by Blake Edwards and Arthur A. Ross, and with music by Henry Mancini and cinematography by Russell Harlan. The supporting cast includes Peter Falk, Keenan Wynn,...

”. For the past five years “Soho–Media
Soho Media
Soho Media has been operating on the Russian TV market for over fifteen years. It specializes in the production of entertainment TV shows, such as the highly popular Minute of Fame and The Great Race. For the past five years Soho Media worked in close cooperation with FremantleMedia...

” worked in close cooperation with “FremantleMedia
FremantleMedia
FremantleMedia, Ltd. is the content and production division of Bertelsmann's RTL Group, Europe's second largest TV, radio, and production company...

”. For “CTC” television network “Soho–Media
Soho Media
Soho Media has been operating on the Russian TV market for over fifteen years. It specializes in the production of entertainment TV shows, such as the highly popular Minute of Fame and The Great Race. For the past five years Soho Media worked in close cooperation with FremantleMedia...

” adapted “Just Kidding Me” which is hosted by Russian pop star “Glukoza
Glukoza
Natalia Ilinichna Ionova , better known under her artist name Glukoza is a Russian singer and solo artist.-Biography:Ionova was born on June 7, 1986, in Syzran, the Volga Region of Russia. Her mother and father were both computer programmers, and her elder sister is a pastry chef.As a child, her...

” and produced the original Russian talent search show similar to “American Idol
American Idol
American Idol, titled American Idol: The Search for a Superstar for the first season, is a reality television singing competition created by Simon Fuller and produced by FremantleMedia North America and 19 Entertainment...

”.

Operations in the CIS

“CTC Media” has recently entered other CIS markets outside Russia: it acquired a majority economic interest in Channel 31 Group in Kazakhstan
Kazakhstan
Kazakhstan , officially the Republic of Kazakhstan, is a transcontinental country in Central Asia and Eastern Europe. Ranked as the ninth largest country in the world, it is also the world's largest landlocked country; its territory of is greater than Western Europe...

 and registered a new broadcasting company in Uzbekistan
Uzbekistan
Uzbekistan , officially the Republic of Uzbekistan is a doubly landlocked country in Central Asia and one of the six independent Turkic states. It shares borders with Kazakhstan to the west and to the north, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan to the east, and Afghanistan and Turkmenistan to the south....

 — reaching potential audience of over 40 million. “CTC Media” continues to view the countries of the former Soviet Union as attractive strategic opportunities. It plans to continue to execute on its expansion strategy by extending the reach of its brands to other markets in the CIS.

KAZAKHSTAN

Channel 31 is based in Almaty, Kazakhstan, and has been broadcasting since 1992. The channel is currently the fourth largest in Kazakhstan in terms of audience share, which averaged 7.1% in the second half of 2007, and targets primarily young audiences aged 6–54.

Kazakhstan has significant potential for further growth in the television advertising market and is the third largest among the countries of the former Soviet Union behind Russia and Ukraine. Television viewership is remarkably high among young audiences, with viewers younger than 35 years old comprising nearly half of the total television audience in the country. Thus, “CTC”'s focus on younger demographics provides it with an opportunity to gain audience share. Together with its local partners “CTC Media” aims to create a new high quality entertainment television in Kazakhstan while maintaining the channels' distinct local appeal.

Broadcasting in the “CTC” format on “Channel 31” began in March 2008. The current programming mix consists of “CTC” shows and series (60%), as well as local Kazakhstan programming and foreign content acquired specifically for “Channel 31” (40%).

“CTC” series. “Channel 31” shows most popular “CTC” sitcoms, such as “The Nanny
The Nanny (TV series)
The Nanny is an American television sitcom co-produced by Sternin & Fraser Ink, Inc., and Fran Drescher in association with TriStar Television for the CBS network...

” and “Daddy’s Girls”, as well as its original hit series “Cadets”, all of which underpin strong “CTC” brand and proved to be successful with Russian speaking viewers.

“CTC” shows. A number of well-established and newly launched “CTC” shows aired on “Channel 31” include “The Brainiest”, “Good Jokes”, and “Just Kidding Me”.

Foreign movies. Just like on the flagship channel “CTC”, “Channel 31” shows European and Hollywood films.

Local programs. Locally produced content includes general news (Informbureau) and a number of thematic programs in Kazakh language, including Muzzone (musical program which is among the channel’s top-rated shows).

Other programming includes sports events, such as UEFA
UEFA
The Union of European Football Associations , almost always referred to by its acronym UEFA is the administrative and controlling body for European association football, futsal and beach soccer....

 matches, and children animated cartoons.

UZBEKISTAN

“CTC” has established a new TV company in Uzbekistan
Uzbekistan
Uzbekistan , officially the Republic of Uzbekistan is a doubly landlocked country in Central Asia and one of the six independent Turkic states. It shares borders with Kazakhstan to the west and to the north, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan to the east, and Afghanistan and Turkmenistan to the south....

 in cooperation with “Terra” group, a leading independent Uzbek media holding, which is to commence commercial broadcasting in April 2008 on “Channel 31”. The channel’s programming schedule will include a mix of “CTC” and “Domashny
Domashny
Domashny or Domashniy is a TV Network which targets female viewers aged 25–60. It was launched in March 2005. Domashny was aimed to deliver programming to capture an attractive audience in demand by advertisers, but traditionally under-served by broadcasters.CTC Media created the Domashny brand in...

” content.

External links

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.  The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.
 
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