Russian daily Kommersant to launch TV channel

Posted by Alisa Zykova on September 1, 2010 at 6:47 AM

Russian publishing house Kommersant will launch a TV channel that may be available on cable or the Web, Lenta.ru reported today. The channel's website outlined that it will focus on socio-political news content and that stories will "strictly" include only the facts and expert opinions.

RBC Daily wrote that Kommersant General Director Andrei Galiev confirmed the project will soon come to life and that the firm is looking into the various steps that should be taken to realise Kommersant TV. According to experts, initial investment in the project would have to be between US$2 million to $5 million, while the yearly budget must amount to $2 million, rg.ru noted.

David Shostak, operating director of video-gaming and computer channel Gameland TV, said that Internet TV currently has no real business model and that Web-based outlets as such serve to promote the channel and to gain extra audiences, as opposed to cable-based ones, which is where real monetization occurs.

Kommersant publishes a daily paper of the same name focused on business, the economy, politics and numerous social issues. The Russian-language title was also made available in the United Kingdom in 2009. In March 2010, the publisher launched Kommersant FM, a Russian-language "all news radio" station that covers everything from the economy to culture, according to Sostav.ru.