The Russian Communist Party will make a bid to reach the masses by launching its own television channel, RBC Daily news website reported on Wednesday.
The party will allot 10 million rubles ($300,000) a month to fund the currently unnamed television, which will initially only broadcast online, Communist lawmaker Vadim Solovyov was cited as saying.
The money will come through budget cuts, possibly on funding for propaganda leaflets and party newspapers, Solovyov said.
No launch date was announced, but activists in 47 regional party branches are already working to produce content for the channel, which will offer various political shows and debates, Solovyov said. He added the TV will cater to young voters.
The Communists are not alone in their broadcasting drive: a prominent lawmaker from rival leftist A Just Russia, Dmitry Gudkov, is working separately to create a public television channel.
The channel, which plans to release some pilot shows in September, hopes to lure some prominent TV personalities away from state-owned federal television, Gudkov told RBC Daily. He named no names.
The Kremlin plans to launch in 2013 an independent public television channel in Russia to balance the state-controlled TV. However, the project will initially be state-funded and the channel’s head will be appointed by the president.
Since 2007, the Communist Party runs its own YouTube channel, which has more than 2,200 videos boasting a combined 10 million views.
