The Media in Russia
The telecommunications system in Russia have undergone significant changes since the 1980s, resulting in more than 90 officially registered television companies, 25,000 newspapers, over 2,300 radio programmes and 400 news agencies to offer communication services today. Some Multimedia organizations are:
- RIA NOVOSTI
- RosBusinessConsulting (RBC)
- Russian Bureau of News (RBN)
- Corbina Telecom
Television is actually recognized as Russia's most influential form of media. Many may expect Russian TV programming to be boring, but the fact is that many of the Russian TV stations are now broadcasting interesting talk shows covering a variety of topics. There are also channels which offer international entertainment programs, series, comedies and so forth.
Russia also has access to satellite television. If you are looking for English TV in Russia, this is your best bet. Kosmos TV and Divo TV broadcast via satellite from Moscow. Other satellite channels that can be viewed in Russia include CNN, BBC, Discovery, Euronews and Bloomberg. Some Tv Stations are:
- Pervyi kanal
- Centre TV
- Russia Today
Russian Radio is a very popular form of mass media. Because of the size of Russia, frequencies may vary in different cities. There are 2 378 radio stations in Russia, with music stations being the most popular. Russia's main news stations are Radio Mayak and the most popular music radio stations in Russia are Russkoe Radio (Russian pop). Several international radio stations have been broadcasting in Russia via shortwaves band. Some Radio Stations are:
- Echo Moskvy - www.echo.msk.ru
- Mayak24, 67.22FM and 549 AM. - www.radiomayak.ru
- NTV plus - www.ntvplus.ru
- Radio Russia - www.radiorus.ru
- Voice of Russia - www.ruvr.ru
- Echo Moscow (Moscow), 91.2 FM news and talk shows.
- Nashe Radio (Moscow), 101.7 FM russian rock music.
- North Capital Radio (St. Petersburg), 105.9 FM.
- Radio Modern (St. Petersburg), 104.0 FM.
- Radio Randevu (Novgorod), 103.4 FM.
- Radio Volga FM (Kazan), 104.0 FM
- Radio VBC (Vladivostok), 101.7 FM
Newspapers are usually a great source of first hand information regarding the political and economic situation in a country. Not only do the newspapers in Russia keep you up to date with all the latest news, but they provide information on things such movie and theatre times and dates, interesting news snippets of a lighter nature and much, much more. Of course, most of the Russian newspapers are printed in Russian and so few foreign visitors will be able to read them.
- Izvestia Moscow, Russia Features full-text of national news and includes politics, business/economics, technology, and sports sections - www.izvestia.ru
- Komsomolskaya Pravda Moscow, Russia Features full-text, national and world news updated daily. Includes politics, business/economics, sports, and searchable archive sections - www.kp.ru
- Moskovsky KomsomoletsMoscow, Russia Features full-text, local and national news targeted toward young readers. Includes sports, police/crime, politics, and business/economics sections - www.mk.ru
- Novayagazeta Moscow, Russia Features full-text, local news from the capital and across Russia and also includes technology and sports sections - www.novayagazeta.ru
- Nyezavisimaya Gazeta Moscow, Russia Features full-text, national and world news - www.ng.ru
- Kommersant Moscow, Russia Features full-text, national and world news - www.kommersant.ru
- The Moscow Times Moscow, Russia Features full text, of national and worldwide news, that includes politics and business/economics sections - www.themoscowtimes.com
- Sovetskyi Sport - www.sovsport.ru
- Rossiiskaya gazeta - www.rg.ru
- Zemskoye obozrenie - www.zemoboz.ru
- Argumentiy i Faktiy - www.aif.ru
Telephones - main lines in use more than 26 million.
Telephones - mobile cellular: 161,000,000 (2007)
The telephone systems in the 60 regional capitals have modern digital infrastructures; cellular services, both analogy and digital, are available in many areas. In the rural areas, the telephone services are still outdated, inadequate, and low density.
Cross-country digital trunk lines run from Saint Petersburg to Vladivostok and from Moscow to Novorossiysk.
Russia is connected internationally by three undersea fibre optic cables; digital switches in several cities provide more than 50,000 lines for international calls; satellite earth stations provide access to Intelsat, Intersputnik, Eutelsat, Inmarsat, and Orbita.
Some people consider Runet a cultural formation cantered in largest Russian cities and represented by the .ru domain (the mentioned dictionary denotes it as "Russia's Internet"). But many see it reasonable to generally distinguish Runet as a spoken term by the usage of the Russian language, not necessarily by a .ru domain or a server physically located within the Russian Federation (many Russian servers aren't).
There are many internet cafes in Russia, so you never need to be far away from checking your bank account or private mail, most hotels provide internet access although at a more expensive rate.
Airmail to Western Europe takes over 10 days. There are postboxes and post offices in every hotel. Inland surface mail is often slow. Post office hours: 09:00 am -19:00 pm.
INTERNATIONAL CALLS FROM RUSSIA
Dial 8, wait for a tone, then dial 10 for international access, and then the international code of the country you need (44 for the UK, 1 for the US) then the city code and finally the number that you need. If you are using a city code, it is cheaper to call via an IP phone card, that can be purchased from a kiosk or communications shop.
INTERNATIONAL CALLS TO RUSSIA
The phone code of Russia is +7. Each city also has a dialling code, for example Moscow is 495 and St Petersburg is 812. Check the Hotels section on this web site to find out the dialling code in the place where you will be staying. If your Moscow Hotel number is 123 4567, then you can be reached form abroad by dialling +7 495 123 4567.
CALLS: CITY TO CITY WITHIN RUSSIA
Dial 8, wait for the tone, then dial the city code and finally the number you require.