TVS (Russia)

"For the former ITV station for the south, see Television South"

Infobox TV channel
name = TVS
logofile = TVS logo.png logosize = 130px
logoalt =
logo2 =
launch = June 1 2002
closed date = June 22 2003
picture format = 576i
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network =
owner = Media-Socium partnership
slogan =
country = flag|Russian Federation
broadcast area = flag|Russian Federation
headquarters = Moscow, Russian Federation
former names =
replaced names = TV6
replaced by names = Sport TV channel
sister names =
timeshift names =
web =
terr serv 1 =
terr chan 1 =
sat serv 1 =
sat chan 1 =
cable serv 1 = Mostelekom
cable chan 1 =
sat radio serv 1 =
sat radio chan 1 =
adsl serv 1 =
adsl chan 1 =
online serv 1 =
online chan 1 =

TVS ( _ru. Телекомпания ТВС, "TVS Television") was a Russian independent television network which was shut down under rather controversial circumstances [ [http://lnews.narod.ru/4/tv/history/tvs.html History of TV] ] on June 21, 2003. cite journal
first =
last =
authorlink =
coauthors =
year =2003
month =July 23
title =Last 'Independent' TV Station Shut Down
journal =Current Digest of the Post-Soviet Press
volume =
issue =
pages =
id =
url = Translation of Where The End Began For TVS. Kommersant, June 23, 2003, p. 4. Media-Sotsium was a nonprofit partnership, founded by Arkady Volsky, president of the Russian Union of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs, and Yevgeny Primakov, chairman of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry.] cite journal
first =Andrei
last =Zolotov Jr.
authorlink =
coauthors =
year =2002
month =May 31
title =TV6 Team Goes Back on the Air Saturday
journal =The Moscow Times
volume =
issue =
pages =
id =
url =]

Creation

On January 11, 2002, TV6 lost a court battle over bankruptcy and was put into liquidation unanimously by 14 judges sitting in the supreme arbitration court. cite journal
first =Richard
last =Boudreaux
authorlink =
coauthors =
year = 2002
month =January 12
title =Russia's Last Free Channel Dealt a Blow; Media: Higher court rules that the TV station is insolvent and must be liquidated. Critics say the Kremlin is cracking down on free speech.
journal =Los Angeles Times
volume =
issue =
pages =3
id =
url = States that their were "13 arbitration judges", not 14.] cite journal
first =Ian
last =Traynor
authorlink =
coauthors =
year =2002
month =January 12
title =Kremlin's last TV critic silenced: Senior judges put independent station into liquidation
journal =The Guardian
volume =
issue =
pages =15
id =
url =]

At midnight on January 22, 2002 the Press Ministry pulled TV-6 off the air. The frequency is temporarily filled with programming from the NTV Plus Sports satellite channel. The auction for TV-6's old frequency was scheduled for March 27, 2002.

On March 27, 2002 the Media-Sotsium partnership wins the frequency auction, becoming the licensee and broadcaster, with the employees of the TV6 producing.

On June 1, 2002 TVS began broadcasting.

Closure

On July 22, 2002 the Moscow Arbitration Court rules that MNVK was taken off the air unlawfully.

The station suffered from low ratings and poor ad revenue and had many financial problems. TVS's debt to Vneshekonombank (the Bank for Foreign Economic Activity) came to about $100 million. TVS also owed more than $6 million in back pay to employees, who had not been paid for three months.

Mostelekom (the city-owned cable operator that carried TVS in Moscow) began taking TVS's signal off Moscow's cable television networks on June 2, 2003 (after which more than 90% of Moscow residents were unable to view the channel), demanding that the TV company's shareholders pay off arrears of $8 million.

On June 17, 2003 TVS editor-in-chief Yevgeny Kiselyov announced that lack of funding has made it impossible for the company to continue operating, and that after June 23 the channel might suspend broadcasting.

With unlawful reasoning "for viewer's benefit" the Ministry of Press switched off TVS broadcast on June 22, 2003 - 24 hours before shut down planned by station management. It was widely speculated in the press, that such hurried shut down was done to prevent final broadcast of Yevgeny Kiselyov's "Itogi" show, the only remaining oppositional political broadcast at the time.Later MNVK allowed the state all-sports programming to broadcast on vacant channel 6. cite journal
first =
last =
authorlink =
coauthors =
year =2003
month =October 2
title =Russia: Rosmediakom to sue former head of TV-6 over non-return of property
journal =BBC Monitoring World Media
volume =
issue =
pages =
id =
url = Text of report by Russian newspaper Kommersant on 24 September] cite journal
first =
last =
authorlink =
coauthors =
year =2003
month =September 28
title =Russian TV Channel Finds An Audience - Abroad Kremlin Silences Some Local Critics
journal =The Boston Globe
volume =
issue =
pages =
id =
url =] cite journal
first =Douglas
last =Birch
authorlink =
coauthors =
year =2003
month =September 6
title =For Russian television shows, independence is the exception; Years after Soviet rule, government still keeps tight grip on broadcasts
journal =The Baltimore Sun
volume =
issue =
pages =1A
id =
url =] cite journal
first =
last =
authorlink =
coauthors =
year =2003
month =August 7
title =Russia: TV Channel To Return Equipment To Moscow-Based Broadcaster
journal =BBC Monitoring International Reports
volume =
issue =
pages =
id =A200308072D-5620-GNW
url =] cite journal
first =
last =
authorlink =
coauthors =
year =2003
month =July 23
title =Last 'Independent' TV Station Shut Down
journal =Current Digest of the Post-Soviet Press
volume =55
issue =25
pages =1
id =
url = Translation of: Government Hits The 'Off' Switch Again. -- Yevgeny Kiselyov Doesn't Even Get to Say Goodbye. Kommersant, June 23, 2003, pp. 1, 4.]

ee also

*Media freedom in Russia
*TV6
*NTV

Notes