OREANDA-NEWS. November 20, 2014. CTC Media, Inc. (CTC Media or the Company) (NASDAQ: CTCM), Russia’s leading independent media company, has announced the development of the licensing business and presentation of its opportunities to potential partners.

CTC Media has been the first Russian media company to establish a licensing business and enter the Russian market with a wide range of licensed programs across the Company’s brands.

CTC Media’s proposal stands out in the licensing market due to popular Russian brands targeted at the teenage and adult audience: the hits of the CTC channel such as “Kitchen”, “Voroniny” (“The Voronins”), “Molodezhka”, and brands of the Domashny and Peretz TV channels.

The holding company suggests that manufacturing companies use the brands of TV projects and brands of the channels for consumer goods and in advertising campaigns.

This line of business has been opened as part of a policy consistently implemented by CTC Media and aimed at diversifying the sources of its income. Licensing accounts for 3-5% of revenues of the world’s largest TV holdings, and CTC Media plans to reach that level over time.

Several companies, including Unilever, Russkaya Cosmetica, Gauss, Polimerbyt, the Eksmo publishing house, have entered into license agreements with CTC Media. In 2015 annual sales of licensed products at retail prices are expected to total USD 10 million to USD15 million. CTC Media’s income comes from royalties, which licensees pay as a percentage of their sales revenue.

Yuliana Slashcheva, CEO of CTC Media, said: "When establishing this business, we drew on the expertise of the developed markets, particularly the EU and the United States; we also took into account the distinctive features of Russia. The Holding Company formed a team of professionals which supports the entire cycle of licensing activities: sale, design of products and promotional materials and subsequent support to a Licensee. We believe that the success of our brands can help our partners to succeed as well.”

Existing and potential partners were informed about the development plans and ample opportunities for partnership within this business during the first CTC Media Licensing Summit.
The Summit was attended by Russian manufacturers of product categories such as food and beverages, household goods, clothing and accessories, personal care products, publishing houses and stationery manufacturers, as well as by representatives of major advertising agencies.

Ksenia Gordienko, Director for Licensing Products of CTC Media, said: "The licensing business offers great opportunities for the development of our partners’ business. We will continuously present our new license projects and proposals to the market, including at the annual CTC Media Licensing Summit".