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Russia: Pro-Moscow Chechen TV Expands Broadcasting

Posted on: Wednesday, 26 October 2005, 09:01 CDT

Text of report by Russian news agency ITAR-TASS

Moscow, 26 October: The Groznyy television and radio company is expanding its broadcasting in the run-up to the parliamentary elections in Chechnya on 27 November, company director Said-Selim Abdulmuslimov told ITAR-TASS.

"A new and more powerful transmitter began work on Monday [24 October], so the area covered by our television signal increased from 40-50 per cent to 75-80 per cent of the territory of Chechnya. We've already received a number of telephone calls from various parts of the republic. People say that both the picture and the sound have improved. The new 2 kW transmitter completely covers the lower part of Chechnya, where the majority of the population live," Abdulmuslimov said.

On 31 October, the Groznyy television and radio company starts broadcasting candidates' addresses. Fifty minutes of free time and another 50 minutes of paid time will be allocated for this purpose every day except Sunday. Free and paid time slots will be distributed among candidates by casting of lots on 27 and 28 October correspondingly. The price of the paid time is R2,000 (about 70 dollars) per minute on week days and R2,500 on Saturdays, which makes it affordable for all candidates, he said.

Two talk show programmes entitled "I am a citizen" (in the Russian language) and "Pkhyokha" (Assembly, in the Chechen language) have appeared on the broadcast schedule on the eve of the election, Abdulmuslimov said. The pilot programmes were focused on the question: "Does the Chechen Republic need a parliament?" All the studio guests gave a positive answer. Chechen politicians were answering questions from the audience about laws which should be adopted by the new parliament as a priority, Abdulmuslimov said.

Election programmes will be also broadcast by a radio station, incorporated into the Groznyy television and radio company, whose coverage area includes the whole of Chechnya and some parts of neighbouring regions.

The company plans to hold live question-and-answer sessions twice a year, during which Chechen President Alu Alkhanov and First Deputy Prime Minister Ramzan Kadyrov will answer people's questions, Abdulmuslimov said.

The Groznyy television and radio company was founded by the Chechen Ministry of Ethnic Relations, Press and Information. It has 170 employees. In addition, the Vaynakh TV Company, which is the local division of the All-Russia Television and Radio broadcasting Company [VGTRK], and seven federal television channels broadcast in Chechnya.

Source: BBC Monitoring Media

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