Russia’s CTC Media, National Media Group (NMG) and YUTV plan to team up in order to jointly buy content from Hollywood majors.
However, reports Kommersant, their cooperation is expected to run much deeper, including the combined sale of online advertising and sponsorship on TV channels and creation of a joint back office.
Joint purchases of Hollywood content are unlikely to start before the third quarter.
When they do, they should save the broadcasters millions of dollars in discounts.
Significantly, there are already ownerships links between the three parties, with YUTV, for instance holding a 75% stake in CTC Media, which ewas formerly backed by Modern Times Group (MTG).
