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Friday November 9, 2007

Russians develop Jewish TV stations

by igor serebryany
jta

moscow | Russian Jewish entrepreneur and politician Vladimir Slutzker has a message for al Jazeera viewers: Watch out. Or, perhaps more accurately, watch his channel.

Slutzker is one of a few Russian Jewish entrepreneurs trying to create a Jewish TV channel, thus far with limited success.

In Slutzker’s model, a Russian-based, English-language worldwide TV channel would counterbalance the Qatar-based, Muslim-sponsored al Jazeera with world news from a Jewish perspective.

Whether Slutzker or any of the other Jewish TV promoters have any chance of succeeding is another matter.

“A Jewish television network is a niche project by definition,” London University professor Adrian Monc said. “A project of worldwide scope can well consume at least $40 million to $60 million annually, and I’m afraid it won’t show a return.”

This may be more than even a successful businessman like Slutzker can afford.

Slutzker insists no Jewish businessperson he has asked to invest in the project has turned him down, but Slutzker’s refusal to elaborate or say how much money he has raised suggests the TV project may not be serious.

“This is a sure sign the project might be a lot of hot air,” said Mikhail Savin, press officer for the Russian Jewish Congress. “Any startup of this kind would be highly expensive, especially on an international scale.”

Nikolai Amiridze, a former producer of Russian state TV’s Channel One, has firsthand knowledge of how difficult it is to launch a new TV station. He is director general of the as-yet-unlaunched Shalom TV, another proposed Jewish channel from Russia.

Amiridze calculates his project will cost $2 million per year. He plans for 350,000 subscribers and says he hopes to buy satellite dishes after Shalom begins its four hours of daily broadcasting. By charging $200 per minute for advertising, he says he can generate an annual return of $4 million.

Despite this business plan, no one has invested in Shalom TV.

Slutzker, who faces similar financial obstacles, says his ultimate goal, too, is to help the Jewish people.

“In Russia now, unlike in Soviet times, it is quite easy to be a Jew, despite widespread anti-Semitism at the grass-roots level,” Slutzker said. “The real problem is Jewish communities themselves are divided, and they desperately need to create a common information space.

“Television is the most powerful medium, and I hope to use it to create a mixture of religious, cultural, historical and other opinions on Jewish life that will unite, not divide, our people.”

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