Gazprom-Media is a Russian media holding company established in January 1998 as a subsidiary of Gazprom Media Holdings.[1] It and its parent company are subsidiaries of Gazprom, a large Russian oil and gas company founded in 1989 that is majority owned by the Federal Government of Russia which owns a 50.23% controlling stake in Gazprom.[2][3] The group owns more than 38 television channels and 10 radio stations.
History
In 2000, under pressure from Mikhail Lesin, Gazprom-Media acquired NTV, the only nationwide television channel independent of the government at the time, as well as other media assets of Vladimir Gusinsky's Media Most group – including the satellite operator NTV Plus, TNT, the radio station Echo of Moscow, and the Seven Days (publishing house) publishing house – which resulted in major controversy and considerable changes to the channel's editorial policy.