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authoritarian state power needs. Russian television channels have completely
dominated the viewing of ethnic Russians in Latvia for many years.
The content of most of the Russian television channels available in Latvia is
primarily focused on Russia’s internal audience, but this affects the audience in
Latvia. Russian channels also provide separate content aimed at residents of
neighbouring countries. For example, REN television Russia broadcasts both
Russian and foreign (including Hollywood) movies in the evenings, while its
derivative REN television Baltic almost exclusively shows movies and series
produced in Russia. More than half the shares in REN television are owned by
Bank Rossiya. Its largest shareholder is Yuri Kovalchuck, a close friend of
President Putin. 241
In most of the television channels owned by the holding company Baltic Media
Alliance (BMA), content is created in a similar way and retransmitted from
Russia. BMA has 11 subsidiaries in the three Baltic states, and is one of the
largest media companies in the Baltic states. The central office of BMA is in
Riga and it has branches in Vilnius and Tallinn. Its television channels are the
most important business for BMA. They include PBK, REN television
Baltija/Estonia/Lithuania, First Baltic Music Channel and NTV Mir
Baltic/Lithuania, as well as the weekly newspaper MK Latvija. 242
A 2011 survey by the public opinion polling company SKDS showed that people
who use the Russian language in their family home prefer Russian television
channels. The most popular television channels were First Baltic Channel, RTR
Planeta and NTV Mir. 243 The SKDS poll was part of a study by the Centre for
East European Policy Studies on outside influence on the ethnic integration
process in Latvia. The survey asked: “Which TV channels do you trust and
believe that the information they convey is objective”. Of the respondents who
use the Russian language in their family home, 36.1 per cent said the First Baltic
Channel, 14.6 per cent RTR Planeta and only 8.9 per cent LTV1 (Latvian Society
channel). 244 The popularity of Russian television channels in Latvia remains
stable. PBK, NTV Mir and Rossiya-RTR were among the most popular
television channels in Latvia in 2013. 245
241 See Forbes (2013): Billionaires, March, http://www.forbes.com/profile/yuri-kovalchuk/.
242 See “Baltic Media Alliance”, http://1bma.lv/lv/par-holdingu/par-mums/.
243 Kudors A., (2012): “Latvia Between the Centers of Gravitation of Soft Power: the USA and
Russia”, in Indans I. (ed.), Latvia and the United States: A New Chapter in the Partnership, Riga:
CEEPS, p. 99.
244 Lerhis A., Indans I., Kudors A., (2008): Outside Influence on the Ethnical Integration Process in
Latvia, (2nd ed.), Riga, CEEPS, p. 65.
245 See “Most viewed TV channels in October, 2013, November 5, 2013”, Latvijas reitingi,
http://www.reitingi.lv/lv/news/zinatne/85054-tv-kanalu-auditorijas-2013-gada-oktobri.html.
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