Russian and Chinese media giants join forces

Russian media group Gazprom Media Holding and China’s state-owned Shanghai Media Group have joined forces under a strategic partnership.

The agreement will initially focus on the production and distribution of movies, television and digital content, but Gazprom Media chief executive Dmitry Chernyshenko (pictured) told Russian news agency Tass that the two companies have also discussed cooperating on sports coverage.

Gazprom Media controls new Russian sports media platform Match TV, which began broadcasting on a free-to-air basis on November 1. Match TV holds live rights for a number of leading sports events. It broadcasts Russian Premier League football and other major European leagues, along with domestic basketball, Formula One motor racing, American football league the NFL and leading boxing events.

Shanghai Media Group’s subsidiaries include Great Sports Media, which currently holds rights to Asian Football Confederation events in China.