OREANDA-NEWS. September 22, 2011. CTC Media, Inc. (“CTC Media” or “the Company”) (NASDAQ: CTCM), Russia’s leading independent media company, announces that the DTV Channel is to be rebranded. Starting October 1, 2011, the channel will have a new logo and brand name – “PERETZ” (an unconventional name that has multiple connotations in Russian, including “pepper”, “spice”, “hot shot”, “dude”), reported the press-centre of CTC Media.

The rebranding will be accompanied by radical changes in the programming grid, including launches of fresh new formats. The shows will be hosted by movie, TV and Internet celebrities and the channel will be “re-born” with an edgy, funny and topical television theme that is intended to expand and improve the quality of its audience.

PERETZ will focus primarily on 25 to 59 year-old viewers with a core target audience of everyone between 35 and 45 who, hardened during the nineties, have learned to look at life with a good sense of humor. PERETZ will address this audience’s need for a new kind of entertainment in a new media era.

Dmitry Troitsky, Head of DTV Channel, comments: “The current generation of forty-year-olds is not the same as before. In their youth they were trying to taste everything, including rave parties and piercing. They have now settled down and have families. Their current physical age does not necessarily match their emotional age as they are still ready to rock but just virtually. That is why they are actively using the Internet for, where they seek much more edgy content than can be found in today’s television.”

The key genre for the new channel is “reality” in various formats, including live shows and TV series with real people. PERETZ will also launch suspenseful shows with celebrities, sketch and comedy shows, and live journals dedicated to life in Moscow and the regions. This Fall season will include ten premieres with a flagship prime-time reality show “Mother-in-Law” (based on the “Perfect Bride” format).

“There is too much distress and seriousness on television nowadays. Today’s TV lacks self-irony and an alternative view on what is going own. We respect our viewers and their active life position and hope that PERETZ will give them a perfect food for thought, – says Dmitry Troitsky. – We want to create the first entertainment channel for the adult audience that has some meaning.”