Kremlin purging media market, creating ‘incubator’ of Russian patriotic superstars
‘A musical and patriotic holding’ is reportedly being established with the usage of assets of Russian Media Group (RMG), vedomosti.ru reports.
Russian newspaper Vedomosti has at their disposal a copy of the letter addressed to president Vladimir Putin. Its authors – Vladimir Kiselev, the producer of a famous Soviet-era musical band, and Olga Plaksina, chairwoman of Russian Media Group, – offer to create a patriotic media holding. The letter is dated by October, 2014. Putin wrote on it: “To Volodin [Head of the Presidential Administration], for consideration”.
The authors of the letter proposed to create its focal point on the basis of the Russian state company ‘Goskoncert’ (which reports to the Ministry of Culture of the Russian Federation); television channels MuzTV, Bridge TV, RuSong and Russian Travel Guide are expected to become its partners. Establishing a ‘patriotically-inclined musical holding’ was indirectly confirmed by Alexei Volin, Deputy Minister of Communications of Russia, in mid-July.
Kiselev and Plaksina ask to create an ‘incubator’ of domestic superstars on the basis of RMG television and radio stations; they say that the current situation does not allow to put stakes on foreign artists, Russian stars are needed to become ideologically good idols of millions.
The Russian Ministry of Culture says they have no information on on the creation of such holding. But it is known that Goskoncert barely makes ends meet. According to the newspaper’s sources in the Russian music industry, the Kremlin is really going to assist in the implementation of the project.
If the company is founded, the state will become a major player on the Russian radio market. Information resources and radio stations that belong to state-owned VGTRK and Gazprom Media Holding have the audience of 34 million people a day. The Russian Media Group reaches 16.7 million listeners a day.
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Other popular radio holdings and popular stations are loyal to the Kremlin-controlled businessmen: European Media Group – to the former deputy of the State Duma Vladimir Gridin, Krutoy Media and Radio Chanson – to oil baron Mikhail Gutseriyev, Media Holding – to Vitaly Bogdanov, radio ‘Komsomolskaya Pravda’ – to tycoon Grigoriy Berezkin, Russian News Service’ – to banker Yuri Kovalchuk.
Thus, now the Kremlin may be easy of the score of radio stations, as well as of television. Everything is going according to the plan …
