Russians don’t want “bad” news from the war in Ukraine. TV viewing has fallen by 25% since the invasion of Ukraine in February, according to a number of Russian media. Vladimir Soloviev’s TV show, often referred to as the Russian president, Vladimir Putin’s favourite, has been moved from prime time and now airs at 11:30 p.m., closer to midnight. This is after the show, which was previously the most popular after newscasts on state channel Kanal 1, dropped sharply to 17th place in November.
These are shocking figures for the Kremlin. Control of television has always been at the heart of Putin’s state domination of Russian opinion formation. When things seem to go wrong, it’s dramatic for the regime.
It was a crisis that led Putin to take control of the media. When the “Kursk” submarine sank in the Barents Sea in August 2000, with 115 sailors on board, the Russian media did a brilliant job. They were close to the drama, and questioned the relatives of the sailors who knocked on the hull as long as there was life in them. They interviewed experts at home and abroad, and for the Russian Navy and the Kremlin, the coverage was eye-opening and a disaster. After that, all independent and linear TV channels came under Kremlin control, through forced acquisitions and pressure.
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