[Satellite TODAY 02-09-10] Swedish broadcasting entertainment company Modern Times Group (MTG) has acquired 50 percent of Raduga Holdings from Continental Media for an undisclosed amount of cash, MTG announced Feb. 8.
    The remaining 50 percent interest in Raduga has been retained by Continental Media. The two owners will share management control of Raduga, which will be proportionately consolidated by MTG and reported in the group’s Pay-TV Emerging Markets business segment within MTG’s Viasat Broadcasting business.
    The acquisition will see Viasat Broadcasting provide DTH satellite TV services in nine countries — Sweden, Norway, Denmark, Finland, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Ukraine and Russia — and distribute its Viasat-branded channels via third party operators in 25 countries across Central and Eastern Europe and in the United States. Combined, the nine platforms have more than 1 million total subscribers.
    Raduga also falls under the umbrella of DaoGeoCom, which operates Russian nationwide DTH satellite pay-TV platform Raduga TV, launched in February 2009. MTG also owns 39.4 percent of CTC Media, which operates a programming package from Viasat Broadcasting.

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