Freedom of the Air

In the early 90s, many new television companies - 2X2, REN, ATV, VID, TV6, and then RTR and NTV - came out of the same corridors, from the same Ostankino overcoat. They were created by people who felt freedom, enterprising, energetic, and they used to feel cramped in the Gosteleradio system. The reality of that time, above all the freedom and unregulation of private entrepreneurship, made it possible to register companies and create their own business.

There was no advertising market yet, no clear idea of ​​who is with whom, what is content and rating, who are the producers and who are the broadcasters. It became seriously clear that producing companies were a factor that was beginning to play a role in the changing television landscape; Mikrodin, LogoVAZ and others featured the Association of Independent Manufacturers, which included VID, REN, ATV. By this time, together they were doing a fairly large number of programs for Channel One, and for the emerging RTR and NTV. Independent producers were gaining strength, they mastered new formats, learned to fight for advertising, felt the mood of the public, bargained with broadcasters, launched entire cycles.

Irena Lesnevskaya, the only one of her then colleagues - independent producers, managed to create an on-air channel.

Probably, only a woman could survive in this man's very strong and tough game, while not betraying herself and still achieving what she wanted to achieve. This is within the power of a person who knows how to set a goal, find allies and achieve results. It is clear that anything can happen in business, because television is not a good world, but there were no seizures, betrayals and destruction of competitors, as happened all the time in business at that time, when REN TV was created.

Maybe this is due to the fact that it was still a family business, which was based not only on money. Maybe because even in this tough game, Lesnevskaya knew how to behave in such a way that both her partner investors and competitors respected her. After all, she, by the way, changed three major investors and did not quarrel with anyone, and you need to be able to do this.

With the latter, with the Kovalchuks, it didn’t work out, of course. But then another story began, here she no longer worked with individuals, but with a machine, and lost to this pressure, of course.

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Even in this tough game, Lesnevskaya knew how to behave in such a way that both her partner investors and competitors respected her.

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Her struggle for the channel is a different story. It is now clear that Chubais did not want to sell REN TV, Lesnevskaya tried to save the channel by negotiating with the Germans. What is also curious: almost none of ours, except for the STS, failed to negotiate with foreigners. But they did not save me either ... But it is important that she tried and did not give up. She was not pushed to the sidelines, not forced to leave. Even here she is a pioneer - she successfully sold the business, retained the opportunity to work.

In general, this ability to start, bring to a peak, and, if circumstances so develop, finish a story without regrets and without sprinkling ashes on one’s head is a very important property for a person who is ready for change. It seems that the Lesnevskys were always ready to take risks. And more importantly, they did not earn money at any cost.

The history of any business, especially intellectual, creative, and any success is the history of a person. Look at Apple, at Microsoft - these are, first of all, the people who symbolize them. In this sense, the creator of REN TV is quite a symbol of the times of "initial accumulation of capital." The family company, which was built from scratch, has achieved financial success without violating basic human laws.

Largely thanks to this, what they created continues to live. In the projects that have remained on television, there is a sense of the former freedom and the spirit of that time, which is still associated with Irena Lesnevskaya.