On Wednesday, November 24, an interview with Ukrainian opposition leader Viktor Yushchenko appeared on the Euronews TV channel marked as "exclusive." However, anyone watching latest events in Ukraine knows that a week earlier, before the second round of elections there, RBC TV broadcast an extended interview with Yushchenko, actually rated exclusive, in its "Intrigue of the Day" program.

Brief comments by Yushchenko aired on the NTV and REN TV channels from time to time, but no other Russian channel except RBC TV did broadcast a full version of the interview with Ukraine's opposition leader. Consequently, RBC TV is the channel that features the latest news from Ukraine. It has news blocks every half-hour (5 and 10 minutes long), and online news headlines at the foot of the screen between the news programs.

In other words, a newcomer to the media market appears to have the most balanced and immediate information about the revolution in Ukraine. RBC TV is the first Russian 24-hour television for business and affluent people. Launched a little more than a year ago, on September 2, RBC TV rates among the top 15 Russian television channels.

It is amazing that RBC TV's executives position their product as analytical and strictly commercial electronic mass media. RBC TV General Director Artyom Inutin said in an interview with Nezavisimaya Gazeta it wasn't that RBC TV was afraid to deal with political information. "We prefer to work in the field that we know, everything connected with financial and economic news. Politics itself is absolutely not interesting for us. For political information we have ITAR-TASS, First Channel, and Rossiya (Russia) channel. We want our viewers to make practical conclusions after watching our channel, for example those about the current economic situation, and understand where he or she could make money."

Nonetheless, it is a well-known fact that the Presidential Administration, the State Duma, the Federation Council alongside all Russian ministries and departments watch RBC TV now. Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Zhukov says he is a constant viewer of the channel as it gives him "the most immediate information about business, political and international events." Official spokesman for the Russian Foreign Minister Alexander Yakovenko declared the channel added to the ministry's television network following numerous requests by diplomats.

Artyom Inutin was quoted as saying there was absolutely no difference between RBC TV and information agencies. "We never initiate long discussions and talks. We just provide news," he said. As far as analytical programs were concerned, they were devoted to economic problems only. In any event, coverage of Ukraine's events proved we now had an "uncensored" element of the television industry that could actually be used by both the Ukrainian opposition and the Russian opposition, too, if the latter ever happened to appear in our country.