CTC hit by perfect storm in third quarter

Russian broadcaster CTC Media was hit by a commercial, macroeconomic and regulatory storm in the third quarter, suffering from both a fall in its audience share and the overall weakness of the Russian advertising market.

CTC reported a 15% slide in revenues in ruble terms and a 51% fall in dollar terms to RUB4.9 billion (€70 million) for the third quarter. OIBDA was RUB569.7 million, down 69% in ruble terms and down 84% in dollar terms.

“Although we saw some recent strengthening in the Russian advertising market, the third quarter of 2015 has been a challenging period for CTC Media as a result of regulatory, macroeconomic and commercial developments. In light of these macroeconomic headwinds, we are pleased that our overall results remained positive, with an OIBDA margin of 11.6%,” said Yuliana Slashcheva, CEO of CTC Media.

Slashcheva said that “the first nine months of 2015 have been extremely challenging for CTC Media and the Russian advertising market overall” although the rate of decline had slowed in the third quarter. CTC’s audience share was hit by new must-carry regulations, which saw the number of channels carried by cable and satellite operators grow to encompass all channels on the country’s first and second digital multiplexes.