Russia's only
national independent television station. Airing
populist news and
shows like “
O, shchastlivchik" (O, You Lucky Thing) a Russian version of “
Who Wants To Be a Millionaire?.” They are one of the few
critical voices of Russian
politicians and
politics in Russian media.Recently (March
2001), NTV said “NTV is
your right to
the truth. Come on Saturday," drawing thousands of
protesters to defend the station from moves by the
state-connected gas company
Gazprom to
silence its
critical broadcasts through a
buy-out.
Ted Turner of
CNN is also trying to
buy NTV.
Vladimir Putin met with 11 NTV
journalists on 30 January
2001 saying that the
station would remain “as it is," and that he likes the
channel, but he offered few other firm promises.
"I hope that we proved that we are united employees, a united team, and that either (they will) have to crush us all together or somehow work out another solution to the problem."
Svetlana Sorokina, a NTV talkshow host
"By not being afraid to criticise Putin to his face, these united journalists showed that times have changed."
Aleksei Simonov, head of the Glasnost press freedom defence fund