The third meeting of the Public Council was devoted to discussing changes in the National Media Group (NMG) holding, such as company’s organizational structure and the future development of its television assets.

A company NMG TV was set up not so long ago within the holding’s structure to manage the existing TV assets – Channel 5 and REN-TV.

The new company’s general director, Vladimir Khanumyan, addressed the Council with a report which highlighted the prospects of development of Channel 5 and REN-TV.

The discussion was mainly about the future of Channel 5. Due to the reorganization and restructuring of the TV assets there’s been a lot of rumors lately about Channel 5 repositioning itself and ceasing to be a channel for intellectuals, about serious staff changes and many TV journalists being laid off…Naturally, I’d like to clear this up once and for all. During the last Public Council meeting, which was entirely devoted to the St.Petersburg - Channel 5 TV asset, it was favored to keep Channel 5 as a sophisticated and intellectual channel.

So, from Vladimir Khanumyan’s speech it was clear that the wishes of the Public Council have been taken into account and Channel 5’s focus as a TV channel for the thinking audience is strategically important, and that ratings will not be the main factor in its development strategy. Of course, this doesn’t mean that the channel’s management won’t pay any attention to the ratings. Ratings are important but are not considered as defining criterion for assessing broadcasting quality.

There was an impassioned discussion of his speech, but despite all the different points of view I was very pleased by two things: first, the channel’s management and shareholders listen to what the Public Council says; and second, that all the board members are clear on the main aspect – Channel 5’s status as Russia’s leading “intelligent” TV channel because this is very important. Personally, I was inspired by the outcome of the meeting and it left me feeling optimistic about future plans.

The main aim of the Public Council is to strike a balance between the interests of business and society. And happily, we’re succeeding!