CTC-International Channel to Launch in Israel

MOSCOW: CTC Media has signed a two-year non-exclusive carriage deal for the CTC-International channel in Israel with the Yes satellite platform and the HOT cable network.

The platforms have a combined reach of around 120,000 Russian-speaking subscribers. The international version of CTC is a 24-hour family-entertainment channel that features a broad range of programming, culled mainly from the main CTC channel, but also Domashny and DTV channels.

Anton Kudryashov, the CEO of CTC Media, commented: "The launch of CTC-International in Israel is in line with our international expansion strategy and follows the introduction of the channel in the U.S. at the end of last year. Israel is an attractive TV market, with 224 minutes of average daily household viewing in 2009, which is higher than in most European countries. Furthermore, there are over 1.5 million pay-TV subscribers in Israel, with pay-TV penetration of close to 80 percent, and cable and satellite pay-TV subscription rates are also relatively high."

Irina Shalinets, the director of the international broadcasting department at CTC Media, added: "Many CTC programs and series are already familiar to viewers in Israel because they have previously been acquired by local broadcasters. TV viewers will now be able to watch the best of our content on a dedicated 24/7 channel."

Ron Hermelin, the head of channels at HOT, said: "HOT was the first company in the world to broadcast CTC content outside Russia, which we did on our video-on-demand platform. Given the popularity of the channel content among our subscribers and the demand for more Russian-language programming, we are delighted to be able to add the CTC-International channel to our offering."

"CTC’s infotainment genre is the perfect fit for our range of Russian-language TV channels, and will make our package even more attractive to viewers," added Yoina Vizental, the deputy chief content officer at Yes.