Profil (Moscow), September 1, 2003

Starting on September 2, 2003, Russians will be able to watch the first business television in Russia, RBC TV. This television channel will focus on business information and will broadcast for a business audience.

RBC TV is a subsidiary of RosBusinessConsulting. For ten years products under the RBC logo have found their consumers among Russian businessmen. These are such products as an Internet news line, a daily newspaper and several specialized Internet resources along with high-tech products under the trademark RBC Soft. And now there is the first business television. Ten years ago it all started with a small information agency disseminating economic information!

How it all began: at the end of spring of 2002, the RBC board decided to create a business television channel. At that time, RBC had unique economic content, i.e. an impressive volume of information on finances, economy and politics related to the economy. RBC became the largest Russian business mass media with an audience of more than 1.5 million people. It offered its customers the largest volume of financial information on Russia, the CIS and western countries.

"Our business audience enables us to create new products in the economic field. We understand that a qualitative step forward was necessary to preserve RBC's competitive advantages," RBC General Director Yury Rovensky was quoted as saying. "Based on experience that we accumulated and on examples we saw abroad, it became clear that the most significant, the most interesting thing that we could do was to launch a TV channel. We have advantages that we could not help using! We are aware of the economic situation in Russia: this country has seen a continuing economic rise over the past several years and the most rapid growth was observed on its stock market. At the same time, the local television market has a deficit of economic information and a deficit of economic programs."

Indeed, journalists are now more interested in scoops and scandals about property redistribution while the Russian business audience, which has already reached an imposing size, needs general up-to-date economic information as well as specialized programs spotlighting problems in businesses and analyzing the most important trends in the economy. The information market has a deficit of economic television programs. Currently, Russian TV channels devote no more than 1 percent of their airtime to economic news.

Why was it RosBusinessConsulting to begin on creating a business television channel? Firstly, this company possesses the necessary resources. Secondly, over ten years of work on the Russian market, RBC shaped its corporate style: to set challenging tasks and resolve them, positing itself as the market leader. RBC has become the only representative of Russian businesses included on Deloitte&Touche Tohmatsu 2002 European Technology Fast 500, the pan-European rating of the most rapidly growing high-tech companies. The RBC's average growth rate surpassed 700 percent over the past three years.

RBC TV, television of the future

The history of television testifies that the future belongs to specialized TV channels. Only federal TV channels can afford to be as similar as two drops of water and cover everything at once. Other channels need to find their viewers to survive (whether it be young people or businessmen) and inform them about what they are interested in.

The whole world moves towards niche television and this country is not an exception. Russia has music TV channels, sports channels and now there is business television. The audience of such channels is comparatively small but it comprises specific viewers. Unlike other specialized Russian TV channels, RBC TV will not entertain its viewers. Its target will be to inform the Russian business community by presenting objective information, such as economic, financial and political news, expert commentaries and forecasts from specialists.

The RBC TV team staffs 500 professionals who came from Russian federal TV channels and business mass media. The company employs more than 40 analysts who formerly worked in banks and financial companies. RBC TV has the most up-to-date studios and equipment with unique technical possibilities.

RBC TV, everything about business and for business

RBC TV is the first and the only business television in Russia. RBC TV will cover the situation on the Russian and international financial markets 24 hours a day seven days a week. The TV channel will broadcast economic, financial and political news from Russia and other countries, analytical reviews, forecasts and expert commentaries, interviews with the leading politicians and businessmen, business press reviews and feature programs devoted to topical problems in Russian businesses.

"A unique feature of RBC TV is a combination of two concepts, i.e. news and analytical broadcasting," RBC TV General Director Artyom Inutin was quoted as saying. "Information policies of our TV channel correspond to editorial policies of mass media sources within the RBC group. Our goal is to provide independent and objective coverage of events. We offer prompt information and try to present all viewpoints to our audience giving the floor to all interested parties. Unlike other Russian television channels, RBC TV is a specialized business television broadcasting for people interested in economic news in the first place."

The first Russian business television will combine two broadcasting concepts, which will be mainly due to specific characteristics of the Russian audience. RBC TV is not a replication of a western business TV channel and it is not a translation of a foreign business television into Russian. The new channels, in the first place, present information that Russian business people need, and the Russian business audience, unlike the western one, does not have that distinctly defined specialization and segmentation. The domestic stock market is developing rapidly, however, it is still not as developed as markets in the USA or Europe. Therefore, there is no need to create a TV channel that will specialize only on news or only on analytical programs. It is logical that RBC TV (as well as the web site of the information agency, www.rbc.ru) will focus on all segments and aspects of businesses. The TV viewers will be equally informed about what is going on in the field of business services (the banking, advertising, insurance sectors and so on) and in the real economic sector, i.e. Russian industries, such as the oil and chemical, gas and metal sectors along with agriculture and machine building. RBC TV will highlight the Russian economy in general, addressing the whole business community. The thing is that even a small business audience like that in Russia is not unified, i.e. there are professional dealers, top managers, people interested in economics or in aspects of separate sectors, finally there are analysts, and all these people who comprise the potential audience of RBC have different interests.

You are watching RBC TV

The core programming of the new business television consists of news and analytical programs. RBC TV presents all information necessary to a businessperson, starting with business press reviews to discussions of breaking news, stock quotes from trading floors and documentaries exploring the current economic process.

News programs are one of the main information products of the TV channel. These chronicles of Russian and foreign business life will cover the most important economic, political and financial events of the day. News will go on the air every thirty minutes seven days a week with a total of 36 news programs a day.

On weekdays, the new TV channel will broadcast the program Markets covering the trade on Russian and foreign trading floors with synchronous commentaries from leading experts (analysts and portfolio managers from banks and investment companies). The Markets program will have 23 issues a day continuing for 5 to 20 minutes.

Monday through Friday, RBC TV will start live broadcasting at 7 a.m. with the Morning of a Businessperson, a block of morning programs providing business information covering current events. The block will include morning news programs, market data (trade results of the previous day and forecasts for the current day) and business press reviews. In addition, switching on you TV during breakfast you will learn about the latest events in the high-tech world (in the CNews program) or receive some useful advice (from Expert Bureau). City Sites & Activities (billboard) will help you choose a place to spend you leisure time (theaters, movie theaters, clubs, casinos, bowling, billiards, etc.). Automotive News will cover the latest achievements in technical facilities for active lifestyle, i.e. cars, yachts, boats, scooters, snowmobiles and bicycles.

Every day the business television will present Capital, a 30-minute feature program about the Russian financial markets. It will give advice on how to make money analyzing basic financial instruments and the most profit-bearing segments of the market.

Foreign business and economic trends will be spotlighted in the program World Business. This program will analyze the activities of the largest companies and focus on key events influencing the Russian economy. This 15-minute program will be aired on weekdays with replays on the following day.

The program In Focus will concentrate on the most important events and trends in Russian business. Its anchors will pay attention to original solutions, effective business technologies and unique business ideas. The program will go on the air in the evening on weekdays with replays on the following day.

The Intrigue of the Day is a program devoted to breaking economic and political events at the end of the day. It is aired on weekdays.

The Sphere of Interests is a daily author's program covering non-standard businesses and original approaches to management and marketing.

The analytical author's program Dialog invites government officials, prominent businessmen and economists in a studio to discuss macroeconomic issues. This program goes on the air in the evening on weekdays and is replayed on the following day.

Stories of businesspersons are studied in the V.I.P. program. It investigates professional secrets. Journalists link business success to specific personal and professional skills. This 15-minute program is aired every Monday, Wednesday and Friday.

RBC TV, the first Russian information television

There has never been a specialized information TV channel in Russia. Russian viewers are accustomed to the idea that movies occupy the main place in TV programming. It will be different on the information TV channel. RBC TV will broadcast round-the-clock, with live information programs starting at 7 a.m. to 1 a.m. and replays of information and analytical programs from 1 a.m. to 7 a.m.

The new television channel will go on the air via satellite channels (NTV+ and Kosmos-TV), cable networks (Comcor-TV and Divo-TV) along with cable and terrestrial networks, regional broadcasting companies and the Internet. The latest opportunity has been envisaged for the convenience of brokers and dealers working on exchanges: it is much more convenient for them to open a window on their computer monitors and receive all necessary information directly at their workstation.

The television channel extensively uses continuously updated graphical and textual video information (crawlers and multi-screens) that cover the daily dynamics of events in a visual and prompt manner without disarranging the general programming. The TV channel has morning broadcasting (a block of morning programs), daytime broadcasting (focusing on analytical programs) and evening broadcasting (airing news and spotlighting the results of the day).

RBC TV will exchange programs with CNBC and CNN

"When we were creating RBC TV we studied the experience of the largest western television channels," RBC TV General Director Artyom Inutin said. "We are actively cooperating with our partners, CNBC and CNN, the world leaders in broadcasting news and economic information on the western market."

RBC TV also cooperates with the largest western agencies and companies, including Reuters, APTN, NTV, Deutsche Welle and others. As for the leaders of the western information market, CNBC and CNN, RBC TV has reached agreements on exchanging news programs with them. For example, according to an agreement, CNBC will provide its own programs to the Russian business television channel RBC TV. Under this agreement, RBC TV will air these programs under the brand name CNBC Europe. CNBC-produced programs to be aired on RBC TV will highlight and analyze events on the European, Asian and US markets. According to CNBC Europe President Rick Cotton, "a relationship with RBC TV is very important to us. We are happy to work with partners able to present regional and global news to a rapidly developing country that is becoming the center of business and commerce." Representatives of CNBC Europe noted that cooperation with RBC TV was unfolding within their strategic plans for developing affiliated services in local languages as an addition to the pan-European channel. CNBC Europe already has affiliated channels in Italy (CFN-CNBC), Turkey (CNBC-E) and another channel, CNBC Arabia, will be launched in the Middle East in September. According to RBC TV General Director Artyom Inutin, "cooperation with CNBC Europe will enable us to provide information about the western market awaited by our viewers and by the Russian business and investment community in general."

A cooperation agreement has been signed between CNN International and RBC TV. This agreement stipulates that CNN will provide its news programs to be aired on the Russian business television RBC TV. This means that news from 39 offices of CNN International all over the world will be available to millions of Russian viewers with an opportunity to watch the first Russian business television channel. Programs from CNN to be aired on RBC TV will include live broadcasting from sites and other programs covering international news and daily events. According to RBC TV General Director Artyom Inutin, "cooperation with CNN will allow us to use a foreign information source, and CNN, in its turn, will be able to use our information products. We believe that due to our partner relations with CNN, the Russian business community will be able to receive prompt and reliable information."

RBC TV to be watched by more than 13 million people

According to preliminary forecasts, the initial audience of RBC TV will reach 2 million people in the first two years of broadcasting. The potential audience of RBC TV, according to estimates of the Comcon rating agency, is more than 13 million people. The Russian State Statistics committee posted data that 10 percent of the Russian population earns one third of all revenues, and it is these people who will form the core audience of RBC TV.

Public opinion polls show that viewers of RBC TV are 25-55-year-olds with higher education and income above average. It is mainly top and middle managers who are interested in business and financial information, along with employees of banks, investment companies, foundations, exchanges, auditing and consulting companies, journalists, representatives of federal and regional governing agencies, Russian entrepreneurs and top foreign managers as well as specialists and businessmen, students of economics and private investors.

RBC TV will run on advertising revenues

The founders of the new television channel stick to the principle that viewers do not have to pay anything. If viewers access the new television through cable operators, they will not have to subscribe to an additional package of RBC TV programs. The TV channel will receive money from advertisers and not its viewers.

RBC TV will make money on advertising. The audience of this business television will attract the interest of investment and insurance companies, banks, real estate agencies and construction firms, airlines and car dealers. The RBC TV audience will provide access to a new layer of advertisers who had no opportunity to address their consumers before. Obviously, it is beneficial for companies targeting affluent customers to focus their advertising messages on the business community.

The Russian advertising market is growing at a much faster pace than in other countries. A rise in advertising expenses surpassed 50 percent a year in this country over the past several years. For the first time in Russia, RBC TV offers a chance to companies oriented to B2B and luxury goods to use its unique floor for promoting their goods and services. From now on, advertisers have an opportunity to directly address their clients within one advertising campaign without overpaying for a non-target audience.