The Walt Disney Company and Russian media company YUTV Holding have signed an agreement to establish a national channel in Russia using the Disney brand. As part of the deal, Disney will acquire a 49% stake in the channel 7, owned by YUTV, which will then be rebranded as Disney Channel.
The latter will be available to around 75% of Russian viewers, or 40 million households, broadcasting via its own network of stations in 54 Russian cities including Moscow and St Petersburg.
YUTV was formed in 2009 and lists Muz TV and TV 7 among its assets. It is owned by Russian oligarch Alisher Usmanov, who also owns important stakes in DST Global, the top Russian Internet investment fund, and Mail.ru Group, a major LSE-listed Internet company.
Disney has been present in Russia since 2006. In August this year, it announced the introduction of international social games in Russia. One of these games, ‘Garden of Time,’ has been made available to users of social networks owned by Mail.ru Group.
