Russian piece plan
Gov't looks at splitting VGTRK media units
Plans are believed to include 49% privatization of the two resulting entities.
VGTRK's main assets include two national channels -- Channel 2 RTR and culture channel Kultura -- together with a slate of radio stations as well as control over the TV transmission system.
It was formed in 1998 when government-owned national channels were combined with regional broadcasters and their associated transmission facilities across Russia's 89 states.
According to local reports, the proposed restructuring is being put forward by Russian Press Minister Mikhail Lesin, a one-time deputy chairman of VGTRK. Lesin was also president of advertising agency Video Intl., which has exclusive ad brokerage contracts with the station.
Lesin recently has been under public scrutiny for allegedly stoking political pressure against Vladimir Gusinsky's Media-Most, which runs independent national channel NTV and other press outlets that earned the Kremlin's wrath for their political news coverage.
Two other aspects of the proposed reforms, first reported in a Gusinsky-owned newspaper, also have spurred controversy.
Soviet flashback
One proposed change, renaming VGTRK's television production units "Gosteleradio," might seem purely semantic. However, the word has connotations for many in the business since it was the name of the all-powerful Soviet-era body that controlled TV and radio broadcast facilities.
The other proposal, a monthly TV license fee, would be no less unexpected. Given recurrent underfunding of the state-owned media, the move could signal a sensible longer-term solution for pubcaster broadcasting. Whether Russian viewers would accept any new levies is another matter.
