Channel One Russia

History

When the Soviet Union was abolished, the Russian Federation took over most of its structures and institutions. One of the first acts of Boris Yeltsin's new government was to sign a presidential decree on 27 December 1991, providing for Russian jurisdiction over the central television system. The All-Union State Television and Radio Company (Gosteleradio) was transformed into the Russian State Television and Radio Company Ostankino, a shareholding company, with 51% of its shares remaining with the state.

Boris Abramovich Berezovsky, a Russian oligarch, gained control over ORT Television to replace the failing Programme One. He appointed the popular anchorman and producer Vladislav Listyev as the CEO of ORT. Three months later Listyev was assassinated amid a fierce struggle for control of advertising sales.

A presidential decree of 30 November 1994 transformed Ostankino into a closed joint-stock company, called Russian Public Television (Obshchestvennoe Rossiyskoye Televidenie, or ORT). The shares were distributed between state agencies (51%) and private shareholders, including numerous banks (49%). The partial privatization was inspired by the intolerable financial situation of Ostankino owing to huge transmission costs and a bloated payroll (total staff of about 10,000 in early 1995). In February 1995, the channel announced it would stop airing commercial advertising which was seen by network executives as a "source of great irritation and disappointment". It wasn't clear when the law would be passed; its lifting depended on the introduction of new advertising rules. After the fallout from Listyev's death on 1 March, Alexander Yakovlev resigned from his post as chairman, as the channel was facing an uncertain future on the verge of becoming ORT.

Following the 1998 financial collapse, which almost resulted in them becoming insolvent, the channel obtained a government loan of $100 million from state-controlled Vnesheconombank. Also in 1998, the closed joint stock company was transformed into an open stock company. However, controlling votes on the board of directors remained in the hands of structures linked to then-Kremlin-connected businessman Boris Berezovsky. Thanks to this state of affairs, Berezovsky was able to preserve control over the channel's cash flows as well as over its editorial line until 2000.

From 1 April 1995 to late 2002, the channel was called ORT (ОРТ—Общественное Российское Телевидение, Obshchestvennoye Rossiyskoye Televideniye; Public Russian Television). It maintained most of Ostankino Channel One's program lineup, many dating to the Soviet era, such as Vremya, KVN, Chto? Gde? Kogda?, V mire zhivotnykh and Travelers' Club; the last two are no longer broadcast on this channel.

Broadcasting

The main broadcasting center is in Ostankino Tower, Moscow. In September 2008, the channel installed new digital audio mixing systems in their new state-of-the-art broadcast complex located in the Ostankino Television Technical Centre in Moscow. The new Channel One news facility opened in March 2008 and features advanced server technology with equipment from manufacturers such as Evertz. Channel One began broadcasting a 1080i high-definition signal on 24 December 2012.

At the end of 2018, a separate feed of Channel One's schedule was launched for each of the eleven time zones of Russia. Previously, there had been only five feeds for the entire country—one operating on Moscow Time and variations time-shifted ahead by two, four, six, and eight hours. This caused programming in some time zones to air one hour earlier or later than the time specified in schedules.

Channel One can be streamed on the internet for free on 1tv.ru for viewers in Russia and 1tv.com is for international viewers, though most programs of the Russian version of the channel can be seen internationally too.

Production

Channel One has produced many films, including four of the highest-grossing Russian movies after the Soviet collapse, Night Watch (2004), The Turkish Gambit (2005), Day Watch (2006), and The Irony of Fate 2 (2007). It airs the Russian adaptations of Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?, Survivor, and Star Factory.

Walt Disney Presents

DuckTales 1991, 1992

Chip 'n Dale Rescue Rangers 1991, 1992

Disney's Adventures of the Gummi Bears 1992

TaleSpin 1992

Editorial independence

A 2024 study found that throughout Putin's tenure as president or prime minister, Channel One has covered him in a positive light.

Political coverage

In autumn of 1999 the channel actively participated in that year's State Duma electoral campaign by criticizing Moscow mayor Yuriy Luzhkov, Yevgeny Primakov and their party Fatherland-All Russia, major opponents of the pro-Putin party Unity. Sergey Dorenko, popularly dubbed as TV-killer, was a close ally of business oligarch and media magnate Boris Berezovsky. From September 1999 to September 2000 he hosted the influential weekly program simply called Sergey Dorenko's Program on Saturdays at 9 pm. This was especially heavy on criticism and mercilessly attacked Putin's opponents.

In August 2000, however, his program criticized how the Putin government handled the explosion of the Russian submarine Kursk. When Dorenko's show was in turn suspended on 9 September 2000, ORT director-general Konstantin Ernst insisted that — contrary to Dorenko's allegations — the government had not been involved in the change. Ernst stated that he yanked the show because Dorenko had defied his orders to stop discussing the government's plan to nationalize Boris Berezovsky's 49-percent stake in the network.

Berezovsky claims that in 2001 he was forced by the Putin administration to sell his shares. He first tried to sell them to a third party, but failed. A close friend of Berezovsky, Nikolai Glushkov, was arrested while seriously ill, and Berezovsky gave up the shares and transferred them to Roman Abramovich's Sibneft with the understanding that Glushkov would then be released. This promise was not fulfilled. Soon after Berezovsky's withdrawal, the new ownership changed the channel's name to Pervy Kanal (Channel One). Konstantin Ernst remains as general director.

Management and shareholders

2005

According to the inspection conducted by the Accounts Chamber of Russia and initiated by MP Alexander Lebedev, in 2005 the channel had the following shareholders structure and board of directors:

Rosimushchestvo – 38.9%;

ORT Bank Consortium – 24%;

RastrKom 2002 – 14%;

EberLink – 11%;

ITAR-TASS – 9.1%;

TTTs – 3%.

Alexey Gromov (Chairman of the Board of Directors, Press Secretary of President Vladimir Putin)

Konstantin Ernst (Director General of the Channel One)

Alexander Dzasokhov (then President of North Ossetia–Alania)

Galina Karelova (Chairman of Russia's Social Insurance Fund)

Mikhail Lesin (Adviser to President Vladimir Putin, former Mass Media Minister)

Nikita Mikhalkov (President of Russia's Cinematographers Union)

Mikhail Piotrovsky (Director of the State Hermitage Museum)

Ilya Reznik (poet, composer)

Alexander Chaikovsky (Chairman of the Composition Department of Moscow Conservatory)

Mikhail Shvydkoi (Chief of the Federal Agency of Culture and Cinematography, former Culture Minister of Russia)

2006

As of 2006, the Board of Directors of the Channel One consisted of:

Sergei Naryshkin (Chairman of the Board of Directors, Minister, Chief of Staff of the Russian Government);

Konstantin Ernst (Director General of the Channel One);

Lyudmila Pridanova (Deputy Head of Rosimushchestvo);

Alexey Gromov (Press Secretary of President Vladimir Putin);

Mikhail Lesin (Adviser to President Vladimir Putin, former Mass Media Minister);

Nikita Mikhalkov (President of Russia's Cinematographers Union);

Mikhail Piotrovsky (Director of the State Hermitage Museum);

Ilya Reznik (poet, composer);

Alexander Chaikovsky (Chairman of the Composition Department of Moscow Conservatory, Rector of Saint Petersburg Conservatory);

Mikhail Shvydkoi (Chief of the Federal Agency of Culture and Cinematography, former Culture Minister of Russia).

2021

In 2021, VTB Bank owned 32.89% of shares.

Vladimir Putin's close friend Yuriy Kovalchuk, through his holding company National Media Group, owns stakes in several of Russia's most influential television channels, including Channel One.

2023

As of 2023, the state owned 34.23% of Channel One, along with a "golden share". VTB Bank controlled 32.89% of the shares, National Media Group owned 19.46%, and Sogaz held a 13.42% stake.

Sister channels

Active

Channel One owns some digital-only television channels (under brand Channel One Digital TV-family, Цифровое телесемейство Первого канала):

Dom Kino (Cinema House) — movies

Dom Kino Premium (Cinema House Premium) — movies

Muzyka Pervogo (Channel One Music) — music

Vremya (Time) — 20th century history

Telecafe (Television Café) — food

Bobyor (Beaver) — lifestyle

O! — family

Poyekhali (Let's Go) — travel

Karusel (in co-operation with VGTRK) (Carousel) – for children

Defunct

Telenyanya (TeleNanny) — for children

Criticism

Pro-government bias

Critics charge that Channel One's news and information programs are frequently used for propaganda purposes. As Konstantin Ernst stated in his interview to The New Yorker, "it would be strange if a channel that belonged to the state were to express an anti-government point of view". The critics contend that Channel One airs a disproportionate number of stories focusing on positive aspects of official government policy, while largely neglecting certain controversial topics such as war in Chechnya or social problems. In addition, some have argued that the station's news reports often blur the line between factual reporting and editorial commentary, especially when broadcasting stories concerning Russian government policies or goals.

As of 2006, Vladimir Pozner, Ekaterina Andreeva, Pyotr Tolstoy and Mikhail Leontiev are among the most known political journalists of the channel. On Sunday, 28 January 2006, the Channel One news and analytical program Sunday Time (Voskresnoye Vremya) hosted by Petr Tolstoy distorted the content of a speech by Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko related to the Russia-Belarus energy dispute to the contrary by editing it and deleting some crucial words.

Moreover, various media reported that the channel presented biased coverage of other events that were closely connected to Russia's foreign policy, including the Ukrainian elections to the Verkhovna Rada in 2007, the Euromaidan of 2013–2014, and the following annexation of Crimea. The channel was also criticized for ignoring Alexei Navalny's political activities, namely his participation in the Moscow mayoral election of 2013. Vladimir Pozner, one of the channel's most popular TV hosts, once admitted in an interview to The New Yorker that there is a list of people who are not allowed to participate in his show.

According to a BBC News analysis by Stephen Ennis, the channel has in its reports about Ukraine's war in Donbas "sought to further demonise and dehumanise the Ukrainian army".

Channel One news reports on 16 January 2016 about a 13-year-old girl with German and Russian citizenship in Berlin who was allegedly raped by immigrants was denounced by the German police as fake. German foreign minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier has accused the Russian government of using the alleged rape for "political propaganda".

Original programming on historical themes

Some of the television period dramas produced by Channel One were series criticized for low level of historical accuracy, for instance – Brezhnev, The Saboteur, Yesenin and Trotsky.

Cruelty to animals

On the morning of 12 January 2008, during the current affairs program Health (Russian: «Здоровье») hosted by Yelena Malysheva covering Guillain–Barré syndrome, a rat was violently killed in one of the segments. Some viewers stated that this was intolerable for a program whose audience includes children, and that it violated the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation. In particular, some claim that viewing such violent and cruel scenes poorly affected the health of some children and people.

Visual identity

Since its replacement on 1 April 1995, the logo features a 1 in various designs.

Logo history

When ORT began broadcasting, its first logo was a simple "1" block inside a circle outline, but on 1 October 1995, a logo featuring an italic "1" was launched, with the ОРТ typograph. An alternate version of the 1995 logo had blue and white colors.

On 1 January 1997, another logo featuring a golden italic "1" was launched, with a partial ring and the ОРТ letters now in 3 separate blocks, which was designed by Novocom, along with Igor Barbe. On 1 October 2000, the current logo was launched, featuring a "1" with a partial cut, on a dark blue background. The current logo was designed by ORT Design. With the renaming of "ОРТ" to "Channel One Russia" on 2 September 2002, the idents were changed to match the new network's name; however, the 2000 logo is still used.