| Employees of the 7TV channel demand an explanation from management The recent change of leadership at the 7TV television company does not yet seem to save this UHF channel from the crisis. After Ruben Oganesov was appointed general director of the company, several programs have already disappeared from the air, Nikolai Nikolaev left the post of general producer, and plans for a serious staff reduction were recently announced. All this seems to have led to unrest in the team; at least the other day, channel employees sent an anonymous message to the president of 7TV, Alexander Besputin. It contained a complaint about a two-month delay in salary and a request for an emergency meeting with staff.
Let us recall that 7TV abandoned a number of projects launched by Mr. Nikolaev; the “Exclusive”, “Charging for the Country” and “220 Volt” programs disappeared from the network. In addition, the channel is discussing a cheaper format for the “title” program “News 7” - a “picture” received from agencies, accompanied by its own voice-over commentary. In general, events show that the change in the concept of the channel, which was originally intended to be a sports channel, was largely caused by its financial problems. They say that the new general director, Ruben Oganesov, is far from delighted with the inheritance left to him by the former head of the channel, Oleg Aksenov, who, by delaying payments on purchased broadcasts, almost brought the matter to court.
However, other managers of Sports Channel 7TV LLC claim that there is no need to talk about a financial crisis. “The delay in salaries was caused only by the fact that at the end of 2003 - beginning of 2004 we needed to pay for broadcast rights, pay taxes and the like, this is the peak of financial payments,” company president Alexander Besputin told a Vremya Novostei newspaper correspondent. “Payment of employee wage arrears will occur in the near future.” At the same time, Mr. Besputin believes that “it would be better if the employees worked hard, rather than stirring up scandals.” Deputy Director of Public Relations Nikolai Andriyanov also tried to convince of the channel’s financial viability, noting that 7TV continues to build its own television center on Paveletskaya, which “will be equipped with the latest technology.”
Nevertheless, Mr. Andriyanov confirmed the management’s desire to reduce staff. Currently, 7TV employs about 600 people, while, according to TNS Gallup Media, the average daily share of the channel in Moscow is about 0.2-0.3%. The share of the Sports channel, where about 300 employees work, is ten times larger - the channel consistently receives about 3%. According to the Vremya Novostei newspaper, the number of 7TV employees may be reduced by three times. Nadezhda STEPANOVA |
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