NTW
NTW or NTV ( Russian НТВ ) is a Russian television broadcaster with its headquarters in Moscow . It was founded in 1993 after the foundation of the station was financed by a consortium of several banks.
The independent broadcaster was taken over by Gazprom in 2001 after founder Vladimir Gussinski was forced to sign the sale, according to his statements.
NTW can be received by over 117 million people in Russia; it is considered an important part of the Russian media landscape . In addition to Russian territory, NTW can also be received in the CIS countries and (with a special international program) in parts of Western Europe, the Middle East, the USA, Canada and Australia.
The letters NTW stand for Independent Television (Russian: Независимое телевидение / Nesawissimoje telewidenije).
history
- July 14, 1993 - Registration of the company by Vladimir Gussinski . Co-founder was also the later chairman of the television station Rossija 1 (RTR), Oleg Dobrodejew.
- October 10, 1993 - Start of broadcasting on the St. Petersburg Canal. This date is considered the company's birthday.
- December 22, 1993 - The Russian President Boris Yeltsin decreed by ukase on January 17, 1994 a change to the 4th channel (previously the education channel), where he was initially only in the evening from 6 p.m. and since November 11, 1995 all day sends.
- November 11, 1996 - According to the ukase of the President of the Russian Federation of September 20, 1996, NTW begins broadcasting in full on the 4th channel.
- January 1, 1997 - NTW expands coverage to Western Europe, the Middle East and North America.
- January 21, 1998 - President Boris Yeltsin signs the ukase “On the perfecting of radio and television in the Russian Federation”; NTW receives the status of an all-Russian television broadcaster.
- April 14, 2001 - The semi-state gas company Gazprom takes over 49 percent of NTW on the way of the hostile takeover, which is later increased to 69 percent. Some journalists leave the station, director Yevgeny Kisselev is replaced.
- September 11, 2001 - Russian President Vladimir Putin awards medals to journalists who have worked in Chechnya, including NTW correspondents. Alexei Poborzew receives the medal “For Services to the Fatherland” 2nd rank.
- September 25, 2002 - The station "NTW-Mir" begins broadcasting in Austria.
- January 1, 2003 - The director of NTW and director of Gazprom-Media , the investment banker Boris Jordan, announces his resignation.
- October 10, 2003 - NTW, meanwhile the largest private television broadcaster in Russia, is celebrating its 10th anniversary.
- June 29, 2007 - Gazprom-Media increases its stake from 69 to 100 percent.
nationalization
The station NTW was one of the pioneers of the post-Soviet private media. The station belonged to the media holding of the oligarch Vladimir Gussinsky , a member of the Semibankirschtschina . This is the name of the group of seven powerful oligarchs who exerted great influence on Boris Yeltsin's policies . The station had leading journalists and presenters, practiced high standards, broadcast live broadcasts and provided critical analysis of current events. His political puppet satire " Kukly " became a symbol of the time when the freedom of the press was largely unlimited.
From autumn 1999 there were regular talk shows discussing evidence of the FSB's involvement in the bomb attacks on Moscow apartment buildings . In addition, Gussinski's media reported very critically about the official Russian approach after the Kursk accident in summer 2000. Putin personally reprimanded Gussinski for the allegedly unfair reporting. The offices of the television station NTW were raided by armed and masked private security services in over twenty different cases in 2000.
In June 2000, Gussinski was arrested by the Attorney General's office as a suspect in a criminal case. He was accused of fraud between his holding company " Media-Most ", the "Russkoe video - 11j kanal" -GmbH and the state company "Russkoe Video". At that time, “Media-Most” was involved in the dispute over the takeover by Gazprom . Gussinski was finally released after signing the so-called "Protocol No. 6", a contract between himself and the media minister Mikhail Lessin. According to the contract, Gusinski should sell "Media-Most" to Gazprom at the price offered by Gazprom. Gussinski then left the country saying he had been forced to sign the contract under threat of prolongation of the criminal proceedings.
On April 14, 2001, NTW was finally taken over by Gazprom. Many journalists left the company (which continued to exist under the old name under new management); the director was replaced.
The opposition suspected that behind the financial pressure on NTW was President Putin's government , which had often been the object of NTW's criticism. In the words of Arkady Babchenko : “I was working for the NTW TV station when Putin smashed it.” Former NTW journalists and their boss Yevgeny Kisselev switched to the TW-6 station , which later changed its name to TVS and, under pressure from the Government was closed.
Star presenter Leonid Parfjonow was dismissed in 2004 - Walter Mayr wrote in Der Spiegel that not all oligarchs were arrested and not all independent voices (he mentions Julija Leonidowna Latynina ) were silenced, rather it was about “generating the necessary amount of fear that makes undisputed governance possible "
After Gussinski moved abroad, he founded the TV station RTVi there , which currently employs many former NTW journalists. The station documents and comments critically on events in Russia. Many reports for RTVi are produced by the Russian television station Echo-TV.
Here was NTW
In 2002, the book Hier was NTW by the government-critical journalist Viktor Schenderowitsch was published , in which he presented the events in the NTW company from the point of view of a person who himself had been at the center of the action. It is the only complete (albeit subjective) description to date of the government's prosecution of NTW and the subsequent takeover of the company. The book consists of two parts: the first describes the story of the NTW channel, the second tells the story of the “Kukly” program.
In 2004 the second, updated edition of the book appeared (the title translates as here were NTW, TV-6, TVS ... and other stories ).
See also
literature
- Шендерович, Виктор: "Здесь было НТВ", ТВ-6, ТВС и другие истории. Москва: Захаров 2004. ISBN 5-8159-0347-7 (Russian)
Web links
- Channel NTW's site (Russian)
Individual evidence
- ↑ https://www.heise.de/newsticker/meldung/Russischer-Sender-NTW-verliert-Kampf-um-Unabhaengigkeit-35948.html
- ↑ An abyss of betrayal . In: Der Spiegel . No. 25 , 2004 ( online ).
- ↑ http://www.pbs.org/newshour/bb/media/jan-june01/ntv1_4-16.htm
- ↑ War is shit and nothing but shit (interview with Babtschenko) in Die Welt , February 20, 2014
- ↑ FREEDOM OF THE PRESS - An abyss of betrayal , Spiegel, June 14, 2004