In 2019, Sovtelexport, the official distributor of Russia Television and Radio’s content, greatly succeeded in promoting Russian series, features and documentaries from the holding’s catalogue at the international content market.

More than 100 licensing agreements for different kinds of rights were signed with distributors and TV channels of Latin America, the USA, Western and Eastern Europe, Asia and MENA countries.

Among them are major national companies such as CCTV (China), TVP (Poland), National Geographic (Poland and Turkey), Canal 22 (Mexico), Senal Colombia (Columbia), VTV (Vietnam), Channel Ginga (Japan), RTS (Serbia), RTV (Slovakia), RTRS (Bosnia and Herzegovina), Axess TV (Sweden) and many others.

The company increased its sales to the largest online platforms — Amazon Prime (the USA), Hulu Japan (Japan), Bilibili and iQiyi (China), Tivibu, Ülke TV (Turkey).

The most demanded projects according to the outcomes for the year are historical costume dramas and adaptations of the Russian classics "Ekaterina", "Anna Karenina", "Sophia" and "Godunov". There is continuing interest in documentary projects including "T-34", "Up to the Sky", "Firing Range", "Solzhenitsyn: Repentance", "Climate: Catastrophe is Inevitable?", etc.

Prior to the New Year holidays, Sovtelexport finalized a number of important deals that strengthen the previously established relations and opened new territories. For the first time, an agreement with a national Uruguayan TV network, Television Nacional de Uruguay (TNU), was signed. The broadcasting and digital rights to 8 episodes of the popular science series "You Are What You Eat" were sold. The educational program highlights the relevant topic of a healthy lifestyle, tells about good and bad points of modern human’s staple food.

Strategically important cooperation with the largest Chinese media company, China Central Television (CCTV), has continued. The year was finished by the deal on licensing the documentary film "An Engineer of Russian Calibre" that will be broadcasted on the CCTV-7 channel. During Chinese New Year holidays CCTV traditionally will show the entertainment show Blue Light, the program has been a leader of the New Year air in China for more than 10 years.

The Chinese company HUBU MEDIA GROUP LIMITED acquired rights for the military documentaries "T-34" about the famous tank T-34 and "The Battle for Elbrus", the film about an unprecedented operation launched to find and bury the soldiers who died in autumn 1942 in the battle for Elbrus.

The cooperation with Georgia has continued. Obieqtivi TV purchased The Secrecy of the Investigation, the detective series produced by the Russia 1 channel. New Georgian channel PosTV signed an agreement on acquiring the broadcasting rights for several TV films from Russia Television and Radio’s catalogue, including Give Me Back My Love, I’ll Give You Sunrise, Unsweet Revenge.


Source: "Telescope" magazine (issue №2).