OREANDA-NEWS. July 15, 2011. CTC Media, Inc. (“CTC Media”) (NASDAQ: CTCM), Russia’s leading independent media company, announces its Channel 31 in Kazakhstan and Paramount Pictures have signed an exclusive two-year agreement that provides Channel 31 with the rights to broadcast a wide range of cinema-related productions by Paramount Pictures, reported the press-centre of CTC Media.

This is the first ever package deal that Channel 31 has signed with a major US motion-picture company that provides rights to broadcast on an exclusive basis a large number of popular movies across different genres. The package includes blockbusters, such as “Transformers” “Lara Croft: Tomb Raider”, Marvel Studio’s “Iron Man”, DreamWorks Animation’s “Madagascar”, and world cinema classics, such as “Mission: Impossible”, “Saturday Night Fever”, and “Rosemary’s Baby.”

Nurzhan Mukhamedzhanova, General Director of Channel 31, commented: “All major TV channels have exclusive agreements with world-leading motion-picture companies. The signing of such a contract gives us huge competitive advantages and uniquely positions us as the first TV channel in Kazakhstan that has the rights to show the latest productions and the most popular movies from Paramount. We have previously worked directly with Paramount Pictures and other international majors but this exclusive agreement provides additional opportunities.”

Marat Devlet-Kildeyev, Head of the CIS Group of CTC Media, commented: “We have a clear development strategy for our new television format in Kazakhstan, which has been worked out together with Channel 31. Our creative work has resulted in the strengthening of the channel’s market position, which enables us to sign exciting license agreements such as this one with Paramount Pictures. Acquiring movies will diversify our programming grid and give our viewers access to masterpieces of world cinema.”

Hal Richardson, President of Paramount Television and Digital Distribution, commented:“We are extremely pleased to have concluded this deal; offering some of Paramount’s recent and classic films to Channel 31 in Kazakhstan. We look forward to continuing to broaden our successful relationship with our friends at CTC Media.”