BELARUS NEWS AND ANALYSIS

DATE:

19/05/2008

Zodiak Expands to Belarus

STOCKHOLM/MOSCOW, May 19: Zodiak Television, through its Russian subsidiary, TeleAlliance, has launched a new branch in Belarus, its 13th market, which will focus on production and licensing opportunities in the country.

The branch will be run by Zodiak Vostok in Moscow, which is the managing and business development company for the group's investments in the CIS region. The first project rolling out in Belarus is a 34-episode prime-time entertainment show commissioned and financed by SportPari, a Belarussian lottery company. Premiering this fall, the show builds on a new format developed by TeleAlliance, which is also producing the show.

"The expansion into Belarus is a perfect example of our strategy in the CIS region," said Patrick Svensk, the CEO of Zodiak Television. "We are building a strong rights catalogue which we can capitalize on through production, co-production and licensing in these fast-growing markets."

Patrick Nebout, the VP of business development at Zodiak Vostok, added: "In 2007 we introduced Zodiak's prime-time format Stars on Stage to Belarus leading broadcaster ONT, where it instantly became a hit. But this new commissioned project by SportPari marks a breakthrough for our production activities in Belarus and allows us to take the pole position in the market. We're already in discussion with several broadcasters to produce formats out of our international and Russian catalogue."

-By Irene Lew

Source:

http://www.worldscreen.com/newscurrent.php?filename=zodiak051908.htm

Google