Russia/Tv/Foreign Media Giants

The Guardian: News Corp fails in bid for Russian TV station

"Rupert Murdoch's News Corporation has been thwarted by an oil giant in its bid to enter the Russian television market.News Corp executives held talks last month about buying a 35% stake in Ren-TV, the only remaining major television channel in Russia that is not under state control."

"The media giant, parent company of the Sun and Times newspapers as well as the Fox TV and film business in the US, wanted to gain a foothold in Russian TV for the first time, adding to the street-advertising business and popular radio station it already owns in the country."

"But today it emerged that oil group Surgutneftegas, which has strong ties with the Russian government, had agreed to buy the stake."