WarnerTV Branded Service Launches in Russia

MOSCOW/BURBANK: Gazprom-Media Holding and TNT-Broadcasting Network have launched a new VOD platform in Russia, now.ru, which features WarnerTV content.

This is the first of the WarnerTV branded service in Russia, offering 24-hour on-demand access to hit series and movies from Warner Bros. Entertainment. The platform features more than 500 episodes each year of drama, comedy and sci-fi series. Programming includes Friends, Two and a Half Men, Gossip Girl, Supernatural and Smallville. The movie slates includes more than 110 theatrical motion pictures per year, with titles such as Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone, Ocean’s Twelve, The Matrix, The Matrix Reloaded, The Shining and The Lord of the Rings trilogy.

“We are extremely happy to be partnering with Gazprom-Media Holding and TNT-Broadcasting Network to bring WarnerTV to Russia,” said Malcolm Dudley-Smith, the executive VP of business management at Warner Bros. International Branded Services. “We believe that our world class motion pictures and popular TV series, combined with this new entertainment platform, will give customers compelling new levels of choice, convenience and control.”
 
Roman Petrenko, the CEO of TNT-Broadcasting Network, commented, “While Video On Demand on the Internet is a relatively young business, the pace of development of broadband access in Russia lets us hope that in 2-3 year time viewing of feature-length videos on the Internet will be as common as watching TV or DVD today. This gives us a big chance with now.ru. It seems to us that it is much easier to combat piracy on the Internet than to defeat the street-vendor pirates who sell unlicensed disks. We know that the number of people and companies losing money as a result of piracy on the Internet is much higher than that of those who profit from it. This gives us reason to believe that the piracy volume will be decreasing in the upcoming years and we will be contributing to this process.”
 
Katherina Mironova, the deputy CEO of now.ru, remarked, “In Russia the web offers lots of sites, where one could watch legal videos, but there’s not a single one that would bring together the leading producers and manufacturers of movie content to such an extent. Having brought together all the best of what television could offer, www.now.ru gives users a huge selection of content in combination with modest prices and high quality picture.”

Nikolai Senkevich, the CEO of Gazprom-Media, added, “The breathtaking speed of Internet development is well known. Gazprom-Media as the largest media holding in Russia cannot stay on the sidelines and together with now.ru we are ready to go the distance.”