Tina Kandelaki left Match TV. Under her, the channel lost Utkin, delayed the broadcast of matches and banned the word "loser"

Six years of leadership is the shortest possible time

Match TV appeared in 2015. The channel was conceived by Gazprom Chairman of the Board Alexey Miller and President Vladimir Putin (he hopes that Match TV will make sports more popular among Russians). Tina Kandelaki becomes the general producer, promises to create a Russian analogue of ESPN and says that she will “build a new sports editorial office from scratch.” This greatly offends Vasily Utkin, who was then the editor-in-chief of the sports channels NTV-Plus (Match was launched on their basis).

Utkin first declares that he is not going to work with Kandelaki: "Nobody talks about sports so banally, rottenly and disgustingly as Tina." And then he signs a contract with the channel, later noting : "Responsibility for your words is not what makes a man a man." Kandelaki, in turn, goes on air at Comedy Club, where he calls Utkin "a great friend and idol." And then he confuses "Zenit" with "Lokomotiv" (this will be repeated regularly - with football players and even subordinates ).

Match TV starts broadcasting on November 1, 2015 — the day of mourning for the A321 plane crash that killed 224 people. It is immediately obvious that a lot of money has been allocated for the channel (the total launch budget is unknown): the presenters wear expensive suits, and the correspondents travel on business trips all over the world. But from the beginning of 2016, everything changes — many commentators are taken off the staff. Then there is another scandal with Utkin — he says that he was suspended from work. Apparently, because of the match, during which Utkin fell asleep and commented in his sleep. As a result, Utkin finally leaves Match TV. Another star commentator, Vladimir Stognienko, also leaves the channel.

And Match begins to actively fight piracy (and what the channel's management considers piracy) - for example, it prohibits sports sites from showing videos of the most interesting moments of matches. And even tries to block Sports.ru. The site denies all accusations and points out that the channel's claims arose immediately after the publication that Kandelaki greatly exaggerates the ratings of Match TV. It turns out that the channel itself quotes Sports.ru without specifying the source - Match TV apologizes (however, the channel's lawyers call copying other people's texts "normal practice in sports journalism").

The channel itself is losing the rights to show some very high-profile tournaments, such as the English and Spanish football championships (while the licenses were in place, Match TV could even delay the broadcast of the Real Madrid-Barcelona match because of advertising). Meanwhile, Tina Kandelaki is producing a comedy about March 8 starring Stas Mikhailov and a pilot for a series about porn actors. Match TV is openlyadvertising amendments to the Constitution. And commentators are prohibited from saying “like,” “loser,” “performance,” “no-name,” and other Anglicisms on air (apparently on direct orders from Alexey Miller).

The channel has been losing stars all this time. For example, Nobel Arustamyan left because of an interview with Pavel Mamayev, in which the footballer talks a lot about his personal life (Arustamyan emphasized that the release of such materials contradicts his "professional and ethical values"). In the end, Tina Kandelaki also left . She became deputy general director of the Gazprom-Media holding company of Alexander Zharov, the former head of Roskomnadzor. In her new position, Kandelaki will oversee entertainment TV channels, including TNT, Pyatnitsa, and TV3. She will also continue to develop Match TV. Kandelaki herself described her departure as follows: "Our holding, which operates in a highly competitive environment, faces very ambitious goals. Alexander Alexandrovich [Zharov's] proposal is no less a challenge than the launch of the Match TV channel six years ago, and I intend to make every effort to ensure that these tasks are successfully accomplished."

Pavel Merzlikin has been watching Match all these years

Cover photo: Ekaterina Kuzmina / RBC / TASS