CNN International will stop broadcasting in Russia

CNN International will stop broadcasting in Russia by December 31, according to a letter sent by the channel's management company to Russian cable TV operators.

CNN stops broadcasting in Russia. (Source: rt.com)

The letter, sent by Turner Broadcasting System Europe and republished by TASS news agency and Vedomosti newspaper, did not give a reason for the move.

Turner Broadcasting System Russia CEO Tatyana Kalita also declined to comment on the news.

The company's representative said that the move to stop broadcasting came amid changes to the laws governing mass media in Russia.

"Turner International is considering distribution options for CNN in Russia following recent changes to Russian legislation governing mass media. In doing so, we will terminate our current broadcasting agreements. We hope to be able to return to the Russian market and will inform our partners of our intentions," a Turner Broadcasting System representative told TASS.

He said CNN's Moscow bureau operations would not be affected by the shutdown. Russia's press regulator Roskomnadzor said it had no involvement in CNN's planned shutdown.

"One should question CNN shareholders about the reasons for stopping broadcasting," Vadim Ampelonsky, a representative of Roskomnadzor, told TASS.

The news agency also quoted a source in the news network business as saying that CNN's withdrawal from Russia was solely for commercial reasons.

Representatives of several major cable TV operators in Russia, VimpelCom and AKADO, confirmed that they had received the letter from the CNN operator.

The cable news network (CNN) was founded in the United States by tycoon Ted Turner in 1980. It was the first television channel to broadcast 24/7. CNN International was launched in 1985 and, following the collapse of the Soviet Union, began broadcasting in Russia in the early 1990s.

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