Vera Tsvetkova
Why Is the Channel Known as Frankenstein TV?
NTV first appeared on the air at St Petersburg's Channel Five on October 10, 1993. On January 17, 1994, President Boris Yeltsin decreed that NTV overtake evening time on educational Channel Four. It received the entire channel on November 11, 1996. Many Russians think that the old NTV finished on April 14, 2001, and its heir has only one thing in common with it-the green globe emblem.
Prime Minister Vladimir Putin came to the Ostankino television centre last Friday to congratulate the channel on its 15th anniversary. He was the first in the history of Russian television to do so.
When the VGTRK holding celebrated its 15th anniversary in May 2006, its bosses came to the presidential country residence Bocharov Ruchei to be congratulated, and Dmitry Medvedev, then First Deputy Prime Minister, greeted them on the stage of the State Kremlin Palace as he was opening a gala concert. Prime Minister Mikhail Fradkov was conspicuously absent.
The Ostankino meeting gathered NTV director General Vladimir Kulistikov, his deputy Tatyana Mitkova, board chairman Nikolai Senkevich, popular anchors, Channel One general producer Konstantin Ernst, and Oleg Dobrodeyev, VGTRK chairman and founding father of NTV.
The Prime Minister's talk with the jubilee crew was transmitted on evening news updates and the midnight special issue of the NTV news programme Today. Dobrodeyev talked about how it all started: "It was a revolution on our television. The people were better, too." Putin then asked, "You think VGTRK now has the best?" to which Dobrodeyev said, "NTV has the best quality standards. They were the highest, and they remain so." We do not know whether it was an unfounded birthday compliment, or if he was referring to technical standards. Be that as it may, a great many viewers thought he was wrong.
The Prime Minister went on to call for more youth-oriented educational programmes: "They are rare on NTV and other channels." He was perfectly right-but it is hard to say whether NTV has any such programmes at all. True, there is Timofei Bazhenov's Wildlife, at 7.30 am on Saturdays, Kirill Nabutov, whose programmes do not appear presently, and Alexei Pivovarov's Aviators. If we stretch the point, we can also qualify as educational the programmes Investigating and Dr Knyazkin's Das Ist Fantastisch!. Even the good Occupation: Reporter is degenerating along with the channel-suffice it to mention Alexander Zinenko's film In the Rhythm of Swing in the latest issue. It showed half-naked men and women introduced as "the caste of sexual freedom, who do not know the difference between their own and other men's wives". We should acknowledge, however, that Protagonist and Today occasionally include excellent reportages-but they are extremely rare.
When Ernst mentioned available children's channels, Kulistikov replied: "But when kids want to watch adults' channels, we shouldn't prevent them." It was hard to say whether he said it in earnest. Vladimir Putin was right a thousand times when he said to that: "Adult programmes should not abuse basic morals." It was a timely call, considering a majority of present-day NTV's primetime programmes brim with dirty jokes and gory crime. Indicatively, journalists call it Trash Canal, and viewers Frankenstein TV.
Kulistikov ironically referred to "vice squads" last summer (see Kommersant, July 2, 2008). Now, he approvingly said that Russian viewers were developing immunity to Western films and programmes. "You think it's your own desert? Possibly, people have had enough of it," Putin snapped at that. "We are offering an alternative and free choice," Kulistikov replied, explaining his point.
Considering the situation, Putin's good wishes sounded ambiguous: "I hope we shall progress in the same direction." What direction did he mean? The programmes Emergency, You Don't Say! and Russian Sensations?
The special issue of Today showed Kulistikov talking to President Medvedev in a pinewood forest (most likely the Gorki 9 presidential residence). The President also found complimentary words for NTV with its "news, interesting features and documentaries, and fine entertainment".
President Medvedev is sure that NTV will do well, thanks to its "diversified products and audiences". "Keep it up!" he exclaimed, rounding off his greeting.
Kulistikov's high-falutin' response speech does not deserve to be quoted. The concluding sentence is enough: "We have always made it a point to reflect Russian life disaffectedly, but make impassioned accounts of it."
I don't think I am right in finding fault with jubilee speeches, which should not, by definition, be critical-not unlike obituaries. I was merely astonished at the gap between what was said and what we have been seeing on television over the last few years.
I was under the impression that Russian rulers never watch the new NTV and so referred to it, the way it was seven years ago, when suppressed. At that time, they were not national leaders and had more time to watch television and share in the general admiration of NTV, which was Russia's first-ever politically minded private channel. It retains its motto to this day: "News is our profession." To tell the truth, the company should change it to "Gossip and crime are our profession."