Gazprom-Media Holding’s Board of Directors has appointed Alexander Zharov as CEO starting on March 24, 2020 for a term of three years. Alexander Zharov previously headed the Federal Service for Supervision of Communications, Information Technology and Mass Media (Roskomnadzor) for eight years.
Alexey Miller, chairman of the Board of Directors at Gazprom-Media Holding and the chairman of Gazprom’s Management Committee, commented on the new appointment: “Traditional media are going through a period of rapid change due to the influence of new technology and increasing competition. Our task is to strengthen the leading positions of the Holding in these changing conditions. A large-scale digital transformation and use of “Big Gazprom’s” potential must become the most important success factors. With the experience that Alexander Alexandrovich Zharov has accumulated over the years of supervising the information technology and communications sectors, his all-encompassing, broad view of the Russian media and thorough understanding of the industry processes, he is poised to solve the tasks at hand successfully.”
The Holding’s CEO Alexander Zharov said: “I am very grateful to the shareholders and the Board of Directors of Gazprom-Media for the trust they have bestowed on me. I am ready to apply my knowledge and experience for the benefit of the company. I have been monitoring the activities of the creative teams of the Holding carefully and I compliment them on their high level of professionalism. I can assure you that I will always follow the principles of mutual respect and openness in the management of the Holding and its structures.”
Dmitry Chernyshenko has led Gazprom-Media Holding since 2015. On January 21, 2020 he was appointed Deputy Prime Minister of the Russian Federation, within the government of Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin.
Supplementary information:
Gazprom-Media Holding is a leading diversified media holding in Russia and Eastern Europe. It includes assets in all segments of the media market: television, radio, print, film production and distribution, and online outlets.
Since 2015, Gazprom-Media Holding has significantly expanded its business. As of today, it is made up of the following companies:
- 9 federal television channels: NTV, TNT, TV- 3, Friday!, TNT4, Match TV, Match! Strana, 2x2, Super;
- 10 film production and distribution companies, including KIT Film Studio, Central Partnership, Comedy Club Production, Good Story Media, PREMIER Studios, and White Nights;
- Red Media, a company for the production and distribution of special-interest television channels;
- 29 special-interest channels of multiple genres, including sports;
- PREMIER OTT-platform;
- Digital technology assets (Uma.Tech, Quantum);
- NTV-PLUS satellite operator;
- 10 radio stations: Avtoradio, Energy, Humour FM, Radio Romantika, Comedy Radio, Like FM, Relax FM, Detskoe Radio, Ekho Moskvy, 101.ru;
- Print assets: Sem Dney and Media Press publishing houses.
The company employs 7,800 workers. As part of its strategy to create in-demand domestic content, the Holding has established and now successfully operates studios for the production of films and TV projects. A number of Gazprom-Media’s own TV projects have been acquired by international broadcasters and online media outlets. The Holding has also become a leader at the Russian box office (its box office earnings in 2019 added up to 6 billion rubles, with the market share of 58%), and the lead Russian distributor on international markets.
New digital products have been created as a result of the digital transformation that the Holding initiated in 2019. Advertisers got access to a range of digital opportunities in a one-stop window format - interactive, mobile and other types of advertising. These successful projects included the launch of the PREMIER digital video platform, which got 1.6 million active subscribers over its inaugural year.
A technological expertise center was established in 2019. It works on solutions for the digital platforms of the Holding. The Holding has also established a company that works with mobile advertising technologies on the basis of big data.