The TV channel Friday! International, special-interest channels Match Premier and HDL (Red Media, which is part of Gazprom-Media Holding), and the satellite operator NTV-PLUS won four awards at Zolotoy Luch, the national prize in the field of satellite, cable and online television. The award ceremony took place on November 20 in Moscow. The National Association of Broadcasters (NAT) organized the awards with the help of Eutelsat S.A.. Members of the jury included well-known personalities of the TV industry: Eduard Sagalaev, Susanna Alperina, Kirill Nabutov, Nikolay Orlov and others. Red Media television company was a partner of the awards.
The international TV channel Friday! International received an award in the nomination “TV channels: Lifestyle”. The channel began broadcasting in October 2017. It duplicates the broadcasting programme of the flagship channel Friday! with the exception of some programs. Friday! International is now available to viewers across almost the whole territory of the CIS countries, Baltic states and Israel through cable and satellite networks.
Match Premier won in the nomination “Sports channel”. The premium football channel began broadcasting on July 27, 2018 in place of the TV channel Nash Futbol! It caters to a wide audience and will show all 240 matches of the Russian Premier League’s 2018/19 season live, as well as exclusive football programs. During its first month of operations, the new channel’s subscriber base grew by 24%.
NTV-PLUS satellite and digital television operator received an award in the category “Best interactive platform”. The online offering of NTV-PLUS is an OTT-service that is designed for web platforms, iOS and Android mobile apps, as well as Apple TV, Android TV and Smart TV.
HDL (Red Media), the TV channel about man and the diversity of life, won in the nomination “Popular science channel”. HD Life was rebranded on September 1, 2018. The channel changed its name to HDL. The new logo and graphic design of the channel, as well as the channel’s new website were launched at the same time. HDL has already received the Zolotoy Luch award in 2009 in the “Best high-definition channel” nomination.