Share of Russians who Never Watch TV has Risen from 13 to 31 Percent since 2018 and of Those who Never Use Internet fallen from 26 to 16 Percent, VTsIOM Director Says

Paul Goble

            Staunton, Oct. 4 – Much of Vladimir Putin’s power is based on his control of state television and so he and his supporters can only be alarmed by the growing share of Russians who no longer watch television but exclusively make use of the Internet and independent print media instead.

            According to Valery Fedorov, the head of the Kremlin-linked VTsIOM polling agency, the share of people who say that they never watch television has tripled from 13 percent in 2018 to “about 31 percent” or nearly a third now (sovross.ru/2023/10/05/zhiteli-rossii-teryajut-interes-k-televideniju/).

            This decline was briefly reversed during the covid pandemic when many Russians again turned to television; but with the end of covid at least as far as the mass audience is concerned, the decline in television viewership has resumed, he says.

            In remarks to a media forum sponsored by Yenisey.rf,  Fedorov also said that the share of those who never use the Internet but rely exclusively on television has fallen from 26 percent in 2018 to 16 percent and that the share of Russians who use neither television nor the Internet now stands at only two percent.