Behind the screen: The role of state-TV relationships in russia, 1990-2000

Abstract

This paper argues that the content of television programs is influenced by how their production is organized and regulated. The political-economic approach provides a useful framework to link television programs and the regulation of TV production within a single model, and to investigate their interrelationship. Two systems of TV regulation are described in this paper and their evolution is discussed. Data from in-depth qualitative interviews with Russian television industry insiders are used to examine the impact of changes in the regulation of television on the types and content of programs produced between 1990 and 2000.