Mart Luik: one tank less

Photo: Mihkel Maripuu / Postimees

Though the creation of an Estonian Russian-language TV channel always got stuck in times past, says Postimees CEO Mart Luik, now’s a chance to finally launch a local ETV 3 aimed at the Russian speaking auditorium.

For many, the Russian TV channel ides surely strikes a déjà vu. Just let them turn on the propaganda button in Moscow, and Estonia responds by talking up the Russian language TV channel.

As we well remember from Bronze Night riots, the plan subsided with the crisis. Same again, now? I hope not. I hope we will really succeed in getting a decent Russians-oriented TV channel going.

Underneath, I will not be delving into the sci-fi type Russian language Golos Yevropy [Voice of Europe – edit], but just a new channel with Estonian Public Broadcasting (ERR) – let’s call it ETV 3, here – which would, if possible, exist in close cooperation with Latvian and Lithuanian colleagues. Should successful cooperation be born, to a casual viewer this might come across as a «Baltic TV Channel»; even so, editorial control, programme selection based on local TV market, and the final content would be separated, in Tallinn and Riga.

But: to whom and why have a Russian language ETV 3? Firstly for those who, in pre-election polls, answer «undecided». As revealed in a 2011 monitoring of integration of non-Estonians, the auditorium is highly fragmentised.

To simplify, I will explain that the new TV channel is not needed for the fifth (21 per cent) of successfully integrated Russians who know Estonian and have access to local media channels.

Possibly, the 22 percent of the auditorium who have acquired Russian citizenship and claim to only follow Russia’s media, have for us been «lost». But these two groups put together only make for 43 percent of non-Estonian speaking population. We have a choice: do we leave close to 200,000 Russian Speaking inhabitants of Estonia under the sway of Moscow’s propaganda, or do we offer them an alternative with a new channel showing things the way they really are?

Andrus Ansip [former Estonian prime minister – edit] is surely right in claiming that a better standard of living is our highest guarantee of security. But I do not understand how launching a Russian-language TV station would be in opposition to that. To raise the living standard for the people – that’s the politicians’ job anyway. In any language! This is no Tallinn type endeavour that we dig up Pärnu Highway and talk about everything else on Tallinn TV.  

As a member of Broadcasting Council, I am in the know about the initial budget of ETV 3 and the concept of the programme. ERR isn’t planning a propaganda channel where each lie by Moscow is countered by a lie from Tallinn. No real journalist would work there for a single day.  

In Putin’s Russia, it has come to a situation where information on reality no longer reaches the TV viewer. Anti-Western ideology and war propaganda are systemic and effective. For years, the Putin Regime granted web media relative freedom, as pragmatic FSB-guys thought that to be a channel of minor importance. Now, even blogs with narrow reach are targeted. The auditorium in Russia is in a vacuum of truth, as if; even those who (perhaps) would, cannot get to adequate information.

The argument of choice for opponents of Russian language channel is that the cannels in Russia are so big and so rich that we could never compete. True, the Russian TV ads market moves billions of dollars (for, verily, in the currency of the «enemy» do they measure their market... while the transfers happen in roubles of course).

But based on that logic, why Pärnu Postimees? Why Sakala? [Local papers in Estonia – edit] The newspapers in the capital, in Tallinn, are much wealthier. Go tell the folks in Pärnu or Viljandi. «Life is local!» trumpet the county papers; true. Also true regarding a Russian language TV channel. A TV viewer in Narva is highly interested in what is going on in the city, and in Estonia; for them, Krasnoyarsk or Vladivostok will not matter much. Also, what would have an inhabitant of Lasnamäe have in common with a retired Russian officer who remained in Berlin.

ERR does have a success story to show – the Russian language Raadio 4 is closely at the heels, by audience, of Russkoe Radio; the other Russian radio stations lag behind.  The weekly Den za Dnyem, published by Postimees, has a larger print run that MK Estonia carrying content from Moscow. Ergo: competition with media groups behind borders is possible.

The other widespread counter-argument is Estonia being late already with a channel like that. In reality, opening a new TV channel is now easier and cheaper than in the Bronze Night times. For years, all TV markets including the Russian ones have been undergoing considerable fragmentation; simply put, this means that large channels are constantly losing market share to smaller niche channels, while the viewers are thirsty for ever increasing amounts of channels. Currently, the most popular Russian channel, PBK, is watched by 21 percent of the viewers; the smaller channels totalling 34 percent. Years ago, these figures would have been the opposite. The viewers are longing for new TV channels and are happy to embrace these, should something unique be offered.

In my opinion, ERR as public media is under obligation to offers its programmes to the entire Estonian population. Let me do some simple math. Last year, ERR spent €17.5m to produce programmes; of that, the Raadio 4 budget was €0.7m. Add the tiny sum of producing the Russian-language AK news. Meanwhile, about 25 percent of Estonia’s tax payers are non-Estonians. Aren’t they worthy of more?

Should ERR launch the new channel, don’t expect a miracle. Gaining two percent of audience, over a year – that’d be good indeed. At initial calculations, the new channel would take €2.4m–2.8m a year. For that money, it would not be bad at all. More important than popularity ranking, however: there would be an uncensored Russian TV channel.  

President Ilves keeps harping that liberty isn’t cheap. A Russian-language-based channel, over the years adding to us better informed citizens who share European values and are loyal to Estonia – that’s not even expensive. The best European tank, Leopard 2 of the Germans, costs some €2.5–€3m when used. What’s the impact of a tank, on the security of the nation, as compared to a thousand thankful TV watchers?