Russian TV Center assesses progress
April 17, 2012 11.05 Europe/London By Chris Dziadul

There are at present no plans for a change of ownership at the Moscow-based station TV Center, according to its general director Alexander Ponomarev.

Speaking to Kommersant, he added at that TV Center is now a profitable operation, in contrast to that in 2006, when it was burdened with debts of R224 million (€5.77 million) which it has since been able to repay.

Over that period, its net assets have increased from R1.3 billion to R4.1 billion.

Its ad revenues in 2011 were 18% higher than in the previous year and it was one of the first stations in the country to post higher ad revenues than in the pre-2008 crisis period.

However, its audience share, according to TNS Russia, fell from 3.4% in 2010 to 3.1% in 2011.

TV Center is owned by the Moscow City Government, whose other interests include Moscow 24.