MTV sells stake in Russian music channel By Joshua Chaffin in New York MTV Networks and its partner have sold their stakes in a Russian venture for a total of $360m, reducing the US media group’s presence in a market where it was a pioneer in bringing western youth culture to the eastern bloc. MTV, part of , the media company that also owns Paramount Pictures, sold its 53 per cent share in MTV Russia to Prof-Media, a local company with interests in film production, theatres and radio. Prof-Media acquired 100 per cent of the venture and will run the network under a licence agreement.

The decision by MTV is part of a restructuring at the cable group aimed at improving international profitability after a long period of expansion. As part of the process, the company has moved to licensing deals in smaller, less promising markets while taking ownership stakes in more robust ones. Last year, MTV converted networks in south-east Asia, including Thailand, to licensing agreements and bought out the half of MTV Japan it did not own.

Recently, it entered into a wide-ranging partnership in India. “We are really choosing to focus our activities in those markets where we believe our investments will pay off in a big way for a long time,” Philippe Dauman, Viacom’s chief executive, told the Financial Times after the India deal. Bill Roedy, head of MTV International, said the Russian sale was not driven by concerns about the regulatory or political environment that have recently rattled other foreign businesses.

“The prospects are very good in Russia. I happen to be very bullish,” Mr Roedy said. It’s always two steps forward, one step back.

” He predicted Prof-Media’s ability to cross-promote MTV Russia and sister network VH1 through its other properties would allow them to achieve greater growth. MTV began distributing its music videos in Russia in 1989. It launched MTV Russia in 1998 through Russia Partners, a private equity firm, which owned a 42 per cent stake.

The network now reaches nearly 94m viewers in the Russian Federation, but only a fraction of those are cable or satellite TV subscribers, making it reliant on advertising. Rafael Akopov, Prof-Media’s chief executive, said: “The MTV Russia acquisition is very complementary to our existing operations and exposes us to a new segment of the young and proactive audience, which is heavily in demand from top advertisers.