More.TV will compete with Netflix and Amazon Prime, also becoming a new vehicle for Hollywood fare.


Major Russian broadcasters National Media Group (NMG) and CTC Media are joining forces to launch More.TV, the country's first online platform for TV content or, as it's being dubbed, "the Russian Hulu."


More.TV will offer viewers streaming of movies and television content, as well as AVOD and SVOD services.


On the Russian market, the new video service will compete with local players, as well as Netflix and Amazon Prime, hoping to get an upper hand thanks to more diverse content.


"Netflix and Amazon Prime are represented in Russia in a limited format, while More.TV is a full-fledged service, offering the best local and international content," a NMG spokesman said.


Meanwhile, as movie and television content migrates from national free-to-air networks to pay-TV outlets, More.TV is likely to become another vehicle for foreign and Hollywood movies and TV content in Russia.


"The new service's content offering will be based on exclusive Russian content from the founding broadcasters, their networks and production companies, and the most popular foreign content from major studios, some of which will be available on an exclusive basis," the NMG spokesman said.


NMG controls, among other assets, TV networks REN-TV and Channel Five and production company Art Pictures Vision. CTC Media's networks include CTC, Domashny, Che and CTC Love.


Early this year, Sony Corp.'s Sony Pictures Television unit formed a joint venture with NMG to manage its Russian networks, namely Sony Entertainment Television, Sony Turbo and Sony Sci-Fi.


More.TV is scheduled to go online in early 2019.