Zvezda (TV channel)
 | This article may be expanded with text translated from the corresponding article in Russian. (February 2020) Click [show] for important translation instructions.
|
 | |
| Country | Russia |
|---|---|
| Broadcast area | Russia |
| Headquarters | Moscow, Russia |
| Programming | |
| Picture format | 576i (SDTV) 16:9 1080i (HDTV) 16:9 |
| Ownership | |
| Owner | Russian Ministry of Defence (through Zvezda Armed Forces Teleradio Company) |
| History | |
| Launched | 16 May 2005 (began broadcasting on 20 February 2005) |
| Availability | |
| Terrestrial | |
| Russian-wide broadcast | Channel 17 (DVB-T2) |
| Streaming media | |
| Channel Zvezda internet broadcast | https://m.tvzvezda.ru/schedule/ |
Zvezda (Russian: Всероссийский государственный вещательный телеканал «Звезда», IPA: [zvʲɪˈzda] (
listen), lit. 'The Star') is a Russian state-owned nationwide TV network run by the Russian Ministry of Defence. As of January 2008, Zvezda's CEO was Grigory Krichevsky, previously known for his work on Vladimir Gusinsky's NTV channel in the late 1990s.
History[edit]
In 1998 Central Television and Radio Studio of the Russian Ministry of Defense wins the tender to broadcast the channel in the competition. On July 17, 2000, Zvezda channel was licensed for broadcasting. In September 2001 broadcasting had yet started, while received a warning from the Ministry of Communications and Mass Media for a two-week period of correction.
On February 20, 2005, Zvezda channel first began broadcasting on 57th UHF channel in Moscow. Feature of the channel is to show programs on patriotic themes: information and analytical programs, as well as Russian movies. On the first day of broadcasting the channel aired a documentary about firefighters, until May 16, 2005, broadcast was limited to the evening. On May 16, 2005, the channel began to broadcast around the clock. In 2006 Zvezda was for the first time broadcast in all of Russia. In 2007 the audience of the channel grew further, as it was included in the package of NTV+. Since 2009 Zvezda is a federal status channel. On 14 December 2012 the channel entered into the second digital television multiplex. In this case, the channel had only one position for the competition.
In March 2015, Zvezda offered a presenting job to Jeremy Clarkson less than 24 hours after he was dismissed by the BBC from motoring programme Top Gear.[1]
Controversies[edit]
Zvezda describes itself as "patriotic" and is considered one of the most sensational and anti-Western news channels in Russia. It has a reputation for publishing biased news stories which favor the Russian government. It has published several controversial news articles in the past, for example:[2][3]
- Finnish military provocations started the Winter War;
- Czechoslovakia should be grateful for the Soviet military intervention of 1968.[4] After this publication caused significant controversy in Czech Republic, Dmitry Medvedev disavowed himself from the article, saying it does not reflect the official Russian statement expressed in 1993 or 2006.[5]
In 2014–15, Zvezda employed Graham Phillips, a British vlogger who promoted the Russian narrative in the War in Donbas and was banned from Ukraine for his work.[6] StopFake reported that Phillips was awarded a medal Russia's Border Guard, a branch of the FSB, a Russian intelligence agency.[7] They reported that Zvezda published an article in July 2015 on the MH17 airplane shot down above Ukraine in 2014 by pro-Russian fighters, which used Phillips' video and witness testimony to assert that the plane was in fact shot down by Ukrainian jets.[7]
References[edit]
- ^ Butterfly, Amelia (26 March 2015). "Jeremy Clarkson has been offered a new job but it's in Russia". BBC Newsbeat. Retrieved 29 March 2015.
- ^ "Dependent media – Russia's military TV Zvezda". StopFake.org. 2017-07-20. Retrieved 2017-07-20.
- ^ Ilta-Sanomat: Russian TV channel falsifies history, Retrieved August 1st 2017.
- ^ "Zemana naštval článek o roku 1968 na ruském webu, hodlá se ohradit". EuroZprávy.cz (in Czech). 21 November 2017.
- ^ "Medveděv: Článek na armádním webu neodráží stanovisko Ruska". TÝDEN.cz (in Czech). 22 November 2017.
- ^ Bright, Sam (2017-07-24). "The communist soldier using charity sites to fund his war". BBC News. Retrieved 2022-03-02.
Westerners have been using online crowdfunding to finance their activities in eastern Ukraine since the conflict started. Among them is 38-year-old Graham Phillips from Nottingham in the UK. Since November 2013, Phillips has been covering the conflict, broadcasting amateur videos from Donbas, often in the midst of tearing bullets and toppling buildings. His daredevil style has drawn the attention of audiences, and he boasts 86,000 subscribers on YouTube. From 2014 to 2015, Phillips was employed by Zvezda - a media channel run by the Russian Ministry of Defence, and he also freelanced for the state-operated TV channel RT... Since May 2014, Phillips has been forbidden from entering Ukraine, on the grounds of "national security". The Ukrainian government even took the unusual step of issuing an open letter to UK authorities, condemning Phillips' actions.
- ^ a b "British Citizen Exposed as a Tool of Russia's FSB". StopFake. 2015-07-15. Retrieved 2022-03-02.
Phillips being rewarded for producing Pro-Kremlin propaganda by a branch of Russia’s FSB, much of which has lately been for a media arm of Russia’s military, Zvezda — is clearly significant, especially since Russia’s MoD has publicly announced recently that Russian media are regarded as military assets, and its reporters are ‘weaponized’... Phillips started working for Zvezda (Star) in Ukraine on September 23rd, 2014, filing numerous video reports... Zvezda is a Russian TV network owned by Russia’s Ministry of Defense (MoD) which is registered as part of Russia’s armed forces. Phillips wrote that he made about two-dozen video reports for Zvezda.
