Sweden’s Modern Times Group (MTG) has sold its Russian FTA network DTV to CTC Media for around $395 million (€257 million) in cash. MTG acquired a 75% stake in DTV in April 2001 and increased its stake to 100% in 2004. The network claimed an average audience share of 2.5% amongst viewers aged 6-54 in 2007. MTG owns a 39.5% stake in CTC Media, which operates the CTC and Domashny networks and is the fourth most watched broadcaster in Russia after Channel One, Rossiya and NTV. The deal, which effectively consolidates MTG’s operations in Russia, will give the Swedish company a preliminary net gain of around SEK1.9 billion (€202.2 million).
