Business broadcasting editor and NTV news presenter Igor Poletaev will become managing director of the RBC TV channel. He will replace Elmar Murtazaev in this position.
RBC announced the appointment of Igor Poletaev as managing director of RBC TV instead of Elmar Murtazaev. Mr. Poletaev had already worked at RBC since 2000, and in 2003–2006 he was a correspondent, editor and presenter at RBC TV. In 2006, he moved to NTV and worked as an economic observer for Business News and host of 19-hour editions of the Segodnya program. When he starts new job, will be announced later, RBC clarified.
Last month, RBC changed its owner: Grigory Berezkin bought the media holding from Mikhail Prokhorov. “Murtazaev informed me several months ago of his desire to leave the TV channel and journalism in general, and I asked him not to make a final decision until there was a change of shareholder,” RBC CEO Nikolai Molibog was quoted in the message. “Unfortunately for us, this day has come Today. We wish Elmar great luck."
Elmar Murtazaev did not disclose his new place of work; according to him, he is negotiating on this matter. Mr. Murtazaev has been involved in journalism for more than 20 years; he has worked for RBC TV since April 2016. He came to the TV channel from Forbes magazine, where he was editor-in-chief for two years and left after the sale of the publishing house Axel Springer Russia, which published the magazine, to businessman Alexander Fedotov.
Image copyright Prokofiev Vyacheslav/TASS
Image caption Igor Poletaev at the premiere of the series “Hunting the Devil” in February 2017NTV presenter Igor Poletaev, who headed the editorial office of the television company's business broadcasting, became managing director of the RBC television channel, taking the place of Elmar Murtazaev, who resigned the day before. The BBC Russian service asked former colleagues what kind of person this was.
Poletaeva as a possible new head of the TV channel to employees RBC before were not named. His name was first announced to them on Friday morning.
For Poletaev himself, this is not the first experience of working at RBC: it was here in 2000 that he began his professional career - first in a news agency, and then on a television channel.
“Having immersed myself in the topic during three years of work as a reporter (and then as an editor), I decided to try to realize my old dream - to become a TV news anchor,” says Poletaev’s profile on the NTV website.
"On September 2, 2003, the first live broadcast of RBC-TV took place. It was also my first day in live information service, which can be described in one word - delight!" he recalled.
Poletaev began working at NTV in 2006. He came there as a business news anchor and later became one of the presenters of the "Today" news program.
The host of the Dozhd TV channel, Pavel Lobkov, who left NTV in 2011, speaks of Poletaev as an “always correct” and “very neat, tidy” colleague.
“[Poletaev] gave the impression of a broker or bank trader who suddenly went to work on television,” Lobkov said.
According to one of Poletaev’s former colleagues at NTV, he owes his career success in the first years of work to Tatyana Mitkova, who in 2014 became deputy general director and head of the channel’s news broadcasting directorate.
The BBC's interlocutor was skeptical about Poletaev's abilities as a leader. Former presenter of the RBC TV channel Andrei Shilyaev did not agree with this assessment: “Igor Poletaev is an intelligent, experienced person, he has been cooking in the television kitchen for a very long time.”
"The work of a manager is not some special profession or special education, this is a job for a person with common sense,” Shilyaev said.
Shilyaev calls his former colleague “on the one hand a maestro, on the other a mathematician.” "This is the person who can bring a little music, revive the RBC TV channel, which last years was in search,” added the former channel presenter.
NTV editor-in-chief Alexandra Kosterina called Poletaev a professional and wished him success in his position as head of the RBC TV channel.
Who was before Poletaev
It became known the day before that this post had become vacant. On Thursday, Elmar Murtazaev, who worked as managing director of the RBC channel since 2016, announced his resignation. And on Friday, Meduza reported that many of the channel’s leading employees would allegedly leave after him.
So far, no one has written a letter of resignation, several employees of the channel, who wished to remain anonymous, told the BBC Russian Service. It's about about planned vacations, the RBC press service announced.
Employees of the “Stories of the Day” and “Prime Time” programs are going on paid leave until October. “We have indeed slightly increased the planned summer vacations for RBC TV employees,” Nikolai Molibog, general director of the RBC holding, confirmed to Vedomosti.
That part of the TV channel team that came with Murtazaev is going on a long vacation: former chief editor of Forbes.ru Alexander Bogomolov (Murtazaev was previously editor-in-chief of Forbes magazine, ex-employees of the Central Television program on NTV Alexander Urzhanov and Igor Sadreev (both came to RBC at the end of 2016), presenter Stanislav Kucher (has been hosting a special broadcast on RBC since 2017), former editor of the Finance department of the RBC publication Elena Tofanyuk, correspondents Roman Super and Rodion Chepel.
In June, the RBC holding changed its owner - now it belongs to the owner of the ESN group, Grigory Berezkin. He has not yet met with the team and did not tell them about his plans for the development of the TV channel, two employees of the holding told the BBC Russian Service. But it was obvious to Murtazaev and RBC employees that the new owner would not leave the old team on the channel.
Paid leave for three months is a kind of “parachute” for employees, say two employees of the RBC TV channel. Murtazaev has long made it clear to his employees that he will not remain working under the new owner, and that, most likely, the management of the TV channel will change. Until new plans are announced, employees are asked to take leave.
No one has announced any specific plans to change the channel's editorial policy, but employees are confident that television will show less political news.
Former business broadcasting editor and NTV TV presenter Igor Poletaev has been appointed the new managing director of the RBC TV channel. This was reported by the RBC press service.
Poletaev will replace Elmar Murtazaev in this position. CEO RBC Nikolai Molibog reported that the channel respects his decision to leave the holding.
“Murtazaev informed me several months ago of his desire to leave the TV channel and journalism in general, and I asked him not to make a final decision until there was a change of shareholder. Unfortunately for us, that day has come today. We wish Elmar great luck,” Molibog said.
Following Murtazaev, key employees of the RBC TV channel will leave within 1.5-2 weeks, reports a Dozhd source close to the holding’s management. The RBC press service reports that employees of the “Stories of the Day” and “Prime Time” programs are going on traditional vacation for the summer. The network of the new season on the TV channel will be hosted by Poletaev.
Earlier in the day, Meduza, citing sources in the holding, also announced the dismissal of the channel’s team. Among the journalists were general producer Alexander Bogomolov, product director Igor Sadreev, head of information service Alfiya Zivere, as well as correspondents Roman Super and Rodion Chepel.
However, Dozhd’s source, close to the management of the RBC TV channel, says that there has not yet been a single application for dismissal.
Igor Poletaev is 40 years old. He started working as a journalist in 2000. In 2003, he became a correspondent for the RBC TV channel. Three years later he moved to NTV, where he worked as a news anchor and editor. He took the place of host of the evening program “Today” on the TV channel after Alexey Pivovarov left NTV in 2013.
Murtazaev became known to RBC on July 6. Vedomosti wrote about this with reference to two employees of the holding and to a source familiar with the owners of the holding. This information was later confirmed to Dozhd by a source close to the channel’s management.
Vedomosti's interlocutors reported that Murtazaev, in principle, wants to leave journalism and plans to start his own business. The new owner of RBC, Grigory Berezkin, in a conversation with the newspaper, said that he would be very sorry if Murtazaev left the editorial office.
Berezkin media holding RBC in mid-June. Before that, since 2010, its owner was Mikhail Prokhorov. The businessman had problems with his holding in 2016. Then Dozhd's sources reported that the authorities were unhappy with the publication's publications about the family of Russian President Vladimir Putin and his immediate circle. In July, the management of the holding changed - the place of Elizaveta Osetinskaya and Roman Badanin was taken by Igor Trosnikov and Elizaveta Golikova.
Dozhd’s source, close to the negotiations on the sale of RBC, said that even after the change of owners, the Kremlin remained dissatisfied with the publication’s policy. The authorities hoped that RBC would become more loyal, but this, in their opinion, did not happen.
New managing director of the channel "RBC TV" will be Igor Poletaev, RBC holding reported. He will replace Elmar Murtazaev in this position. Poletaev has already worked at RBC: from 2000 at the news agency, and in 2003-2006. - on the TV channel. After that, he moved to NTV, now he is the host of the “Today” program.
When exactly the change of directors of the channel will take place is not indicated in the holding’s message. The RBC representative also did not name specific dates, only specifying that this would happen “soon.”
Managing Director of RBC TV Elmar Murtazaev leaves the holding
He will no longer engage in journalism.
Technologies
Murtazaev is leaving the RBC channel and journalism in general, Vedomosti’s sources in the holding previously told. General Director of the RBC holding Nikolai Molibog confirmed that Murtazaev warned about a possible departure several months ago, but agreed to wait for the completion of the sale of RBC.
How strong the changes in the RBC TV team will be depends, among other things, on who will replace Murtazaev and how much the new director wants to update the team, Vedomosti sources said. Today Meduza reported that, following Murtazaev, many of the channel’s employees will leave RBC. An RBC representative denied this and emphasized that some employees were only going on a long summer vacation.
RBC TV is part of the media holding of the same name. Murtazaev has been heading the channel since the beginning of 2016. Two weeks ago, Grigory Berezkin bought a controlling stake in this holding from Mikhail Prokhorov. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.
Berezkin does not at all insist on changing the RBC TV team, Vedomosti’s interlocutors claim. Molibog also hopes to maintain this edition, they add.
Starting next week, some of the employees of RBC TV will go on a long-planned summer vacation until September, Vedomosti’s interlocutors know, however, it was previously assumed that such a vacation would be shorter. Such paid summer vacations, which involve employees of entire programs, are a common practice on TV channels. These vacations are also a guarantee for employees that they will have the opportunity to calmly assess the changes taking place at the channel and make a decision whether they will remain working at RBC or not, one of Vedomosti’s interlocutors points out.
Two employees of RBC TV told Vedomosti that they do not know what will happen after the end of the vacation: “it will depend on the decision of the shareholders.”
“We have indeed slightly increased the planned summer vacations for RBC TV employees,” Molibog confirmed, “so that if the director of the channel changes, it would be easier for him and all of us to enter management.”
Russian TV presenters are no less popular personalities than pop stars and politicians. Many viewers look up to TV presenters as role models: announcers influence our attitude to the events taking place around us, dictate fashion for hairstyles, and the way we dress and speak. TV presenters are a part of everyday life; they come to our house more often than friends and beloved relatives. This imposes considerable responsibility on them, which the charming ladies of Russian television cope with very well.
She is one of the viewers’ favorite news program announcers - TV presenter of the evening editions of the “Today” program on NTV, Elena Spiridonova. According to the TV presenter, Lena’s parents expected the birth of a boy on February 23, and a girl was born on the 22nd. Therefore, according to the announcer, she got the strong, punchy character of the boy.
Childhood and youth
Elena Spiridonova was born on February 22, 1978 in Moscow. Elena's family is not connected with television. As a child, the girl dreamed of becoming a flight attendant and studied well. When the question of choosing a profession seriously arose, Elena chose law and decided to become a lawyer. In 2002 she graduated from Moscow State University law university named after O.E. Kutafin.
Journalism and television
After graduating from university, Elena Spiridonova worked for four years as a legal consultant at the fuel company Aerofuels International. As Elena noted in an interview, it took several years to become disillusioned with domestic jurisprudence. A sudden decision to change his life led the young lawyer to take courses at State Institute advanced training of television and radio broadcasting workers.
Television biography Elena Spiridonova began on the Moscow TV channel “Stolitsa Plus”. Elena learned all the intricacies of television cooking, and went from news anchor to announcer in the evening weekly final program. In 2008, she moved to work on the business channel Expert TV as a TV presenter of analytical programs. After briefly working as an economic observer at REN-TV, she began working as a news anchor at RBC.
In August 2015, she left the evening editions of the Today program, starting work on the Saturday talk show 50 Shades. Belova." Olga Belova was replaced in the “Today” program on August 31, 2015 by Elena Spiridonova. The announcer broadcast at 19:00 in tandem with Igor Poletaev.
Personal life
Elena Spiridonova does not expose details of her biography and personal life to the public. It is known that the TV presenter got married while still a student and has two children. Elena often posts on "Instagram" photos from travels around the world. He is interested in skiing and horse riding, and loves to read.
Elena Spiridonova now
On July 7, 2017, Igor Poletaev left the “Today” program. The departure from the program is connected with the appointment of Poletaev as managing director of the RBC TV channel. From August 28, instead of Poletaev, NTV correspondent Vladimir Kobyakov became co-host of Elena Spiridonova.
The Today program is broadcast daily. In addition to socio-political news, the program includes sections “Economy” (which reviews business and financial news) and “Weather Forecast”. Evening episodes of “Today” are hosted by announcers Vasily Maksimenko, Elena Spiridonova and Vladimir Kobyakov
Projects
- 2006 – TV channel “Capital Plus”
- 2008 – TV channel “Expert-TV”
- 2010 - RBC TV channel
- 2015 – NTV channel
