Say what you will about Disney, but it is one well-run company. To elaborate, it is one extremely productive, well-run company that now has a brand new foothold in another part of the world. Disney announced today the company is set to join up with UTH Russia, a media holding company in the aforementioned country. Disney will take a 49 percent share of the ad-supported channel and UTH will nab the remaining 51 percent.
The move into Russia comes after several years of work from the Mickey Mouse company. Disney tried back in 2008 to get programming on the air in Russia and failed miserably. According to Deadline, this time Disney boss Bob Igor met with Russia’s Prime Minister Vladimir Putin who did end up endorsing Disney’s venture partners and new network plan. Igor must be a master of figuring out people’s sweet spots.
If you're wondering what kind of content Ruski Disney will run, it looks like it will be pretty similar to Disney programming elsewhere. There will be a lot of the basic original programming shows that originated in the U.S., and then additional programming created specifically for Russian people. God, I hope they get Phineas and Ferb. The Russian venture will be the 101st Disney network in countries worldwide. Normally the 100th victory is pretty sweet; however, with all the extra work it looks like Disney had to put in with this one, I’d say now is the time to break out the Prosecco.
