"Vedomosti" (Moscow), June 24, 2003

The TVS channel has gone off the air leaving nothing but debts behind. When it was first on the air its zest was expected to be news and analytical programs. May be it was only news TVS should have staked on? Can a news channel be profitable in Russia at all?

Yury Rovensky, General Director of RBC

Of course it can. It is not only a belief, but also calculations regarding the business information channel RBC-TV, which is beginning broadcasting on June 30. It is premature to talk about paid subscription for news channels so far. Their audience is not that large, and the competition on the information market is considerable, from free Internet to printed mass media. This means that the only source for profitability is advertising. Advertisers are ready to pay for the target audience; this is why any news channel should be specialized. A channel like ours will be able to break even regarding its operating costs by the third year of broadcasting.