For me personally, the NTV America television network defines itself with its exquisite and intelligent style. The channel’s balanced programming – international news, late-breaking stories from Russia and the U.S., hot-topic talk shows, interesting journalist investigations – also contributes substantially to the quality of the TV network. In contrast to many other channels, NTV America has its programming configured in just about the right way – there is no overload of any one particular area. The presentation of news is gentle and the viewers are never zombiefied. Many NTV subscribers now believe that the network, which took up the motto “News is our profession” more than ten years ago, has been gaining momentum and firmly establishing itself on the American soil.        

I try to set up a meeting with the Director General of NTV America, Evgeny Piskunov. Barely able to squeeze into his tight schedule, I finally get to him between his trips to Florida, California, and Russia.

Athletic, a bit reserved, and acceptably witty, Evgeny greeted me in his spacious office with a firm handshake. Near the Director’s desk, on a plasma TV screen, the networks’ programming is constantly streaming.

- The NTV network was always famous for its independence. Would you say that such characterizations still applies to the channel? If so, in what ways does that principle affect the programs you broadcast from Moscow to the viewers in the U.S.?

- There is a joke – independence is when nothing depends on you. In our case, practically everything here depends on the American team of the NTV network, which you now see in its unceasing creative motion about our studio. Programming adjustments to the materials we receive take place in the United States based on the time zone changes as well as on different age, geographic, and demographic characteristics of the viewers. Apart from audiences in the United States and Canada, the people in Latin America, Australia, and New Zealand receive our programs. The work of preparing TV programming has two stages. In the first phase that goes on in Moscow, programming selections are compiled by a team of highly professional specialist of the NTV World network. In the next step, we at NTV America direct the programming from Fort Lee, New Jersey.

What should be meant by independence? Our Russian colleagues supply the main base of our channel that comprises about 80 % of our broadcasting time and includes regular news spots from Moscow. To this foundation we add a daily evening show Today in America and several other local programs that are made in the U.S.

I occupy this office for more than a year now. Never have I received a call from either Moscow or Washington that dictated to us what our policy should be – no one can force us to put something on the air or take something off. We decide that internally, judging everything by the interest and demand of our viewers.

- What is your target audience? What principles govern your choices in preparing programming selections?

- Our main block of viewers consists of people 28-30 years old and up. These are men and women, who speak both Russian and English, are interested not only in the problems of their native country and within the Russian community in the U.S., but also in many other issues. Their income level is above average. The vast majority of our viewers are intellectual. They prefer careful analysis and candid discussions to propaganda-like pigeonholing and the use of obsolete stereotypes. The people have a good taste.

- In your opinion, how interesting is the Russian ethnic market to American businesses?

- I am certain that any kind of market will be of great interest to American businesses. Ethnic audiences can be as appealing as nationwide American viewers. The difference is in the approaches and the incomes.

A separate issue, of course, is that the Russian TV market is rather complex. In the 90’s, it was nearly broken, when media companies that competed for advertising budgets, tried to deceive their clients and showed 10 or even 20 times as many subscribers as they truly had. Large advertisers must naturally have precise information for creating media plans. Only in that case would they be able to asses the effectiveness of their commercials and decide how much to invest in advertising.

On the Russian TV market in the U.S., there are absolutely no principles of telemetry right now. There are no methods for determining ratings and proportions of viewer interests. For the domestic TV channel markets in the U.S., Russia, or Israel such an arrangement seems nonsensical and reminiscent of the Stone Age epoch. We are committed to advancing the evolution of the ethnic TV market in the United States and leading it towards a Renaissance.

In addition to these problems, professional specialists are quite shocked by the low quality standards of about 70 % of all local commercials on Russian TV channels.

NTV America wants to address our advertiser partners and to organize a seminar on the topic. We need to tell them that it is not a good solution to have their commercials made by amateurs working from their homes, or wedding videographers.

Today, NTV America is creating a special division that would offer assistance to our advertisers in improving the quality of their clips. We hope that in the near future, these tactics will allow us to do away with all the TV hack-work.             

- What plans do you have in general? How do you see the future of the NTV America network?

- We are now completing the work of setting up new broadcasting equipment. NTV, at the present time, has a digital signal (unlike most of our competitors that still use the analog output, which is certainly noticeable in the lower quality of the image on the screen). After we install new equipment, our signal will be HD-ready, even better than before. I believe that this change is a very significant transformation, as most TV channels and cable networks in the U.S. plan to switch to HI-Definition in the next 2-3 years. Obviously, it is much more pleasant to see on the television screen the images of the same color and sharpness as in real life.

While improving the quality, we are also working on the content. Soon we plan to add several interesting shows. New anchors and professional TV reporters will start to work for NTV America shortly as well.

NTV America information center in the U.S.:

http://www.ntvamerica.ntv.ru

1-866-688-8727