Russian DTH operator Raduga TV will stop broadcasting on Friday after failing to get a licence from the local media regulator.
Swedish broadcaster Modern Times Group (MTG), which bought 50% of Raduga in 2010 for a reported US$10m, said it was still…
Russian DTH operator Raduga TV will stop broadcasting on Friday after failing to get a licence from the local media regulator.
Swedish broadcaster Modern Times Group (MTG), which bought 50% of Raduga in 2010 for a reported US$10m, said it was still committed to its Russian pay-TV channel business Viasat and will launch five new HD channels next year.
Continental Multimedia, which is owned by the satellite broadcaster’s founders, holds the rest of Raduga.
“This has been a very difficult decision taken with the other shareholder, given the impact it will have on employees, customers, suppliers, and all of the other stakeholders of the business,” said Irina Gofman, MTG’s CEO of Russia & CIS and head of pay-TV emerging markets.
“Over the past year Raduga has worked very hard exploring all options for obtaining the right license, which despite their efforts has not been granted. We therefore have no choice but to close down the operations. We are working hard to move our subscribers to another satellite operator and will make an announcement by 6 December.”
The value of MTG’s participation in Raduga was fully written down in February 2014. Its Q4 2013 results included a SKr147m (US$19.75m) non-cash and non-recurring impairment charge in the group’s operating income.
The closure comes not long after Russian mobile operator Mobile TeleSystems (MTS) said it had decided against buying the group, preferring instead to focus on developing a satellite TV service under its own brand.
Investcafe analyst Timur Nigmatullin said that, while MTS would have benefited from Raduga’s satellite infrastructure and subscriber base, the legal risks attached to a potential purchase were too high because of its licence issues.
Russia’s DTH market is currently dominated by Tricolor TV, NTV-Plus and Orion Express.
