Implementation of the federal target (FTP) program “Development of television and radio broadcasting in Russian Federation for 2009-2018” and switches to digital terrestrial television.

Goals of the Federal Target Program:

- development information space RF;

— providing the population of the Russian Federation with multi-channel broadcasting with the guaranteed provision of all-Russian mandatory public television channels and radio channels of a given quality;

— increasing the efficiency of television and radio broadcasting.

The federal target program solves, first of all, an important social task - it makes 20 federal television channels accessible and free to all residents of Russia in high “digital” quality. This cannot be done on the basis of analog television due to the high costs of its maintenance and modernization, as well as due to the limited free radio frequency resource. For millions of Russians, digital terrestrial television will mean an improvement in the quality of life and the elimination of information inequality.

Objectives of the Federal Targeted Program:

— modernization of the infrastructure of state television broadcasting networks;

— transfer of state television and radio broadcasting networks to digital technologies;

Meeting the needs of distribution of television and radio channels with satellite resources;

Providing the population of the Russian Federation with regional digital terrestrial television and radio broadcasting;

Development of new types of television broadcasting, including high-definition television and with elements of interactivity.

Digital terrestrial television, unlike analogue broadcasting.

Digital terrestrial television broadcasting can significantly improve the quality of image and sound, expand the number of TV channels available to the population, save frequency resources, and also provides the opportunity to develop new modern services.

The main advantage of digital terrestrial television over the offers of commercial operators.

The advantage of digital terrestrial television is the absence subscription fee for the main mandatory public channels of the first and second multiplexes.

When and how will the existing analogue TV channels be switched off?

There are no plans to force shutdown of analogue TV channels. Russian President Vladimir Putin approved changes to Decree No. 715 “On all-Russian mandatory public television and radio channels.” The edition of the document defining the development of Russian television and radio broadcasting secures the preservation of analogue broadcasting of the main Russian TV channels until 2018 inclusive. To ensure parallel broadcasting in analogue and digital formats, the Government of the Russian Federation will provide all-Russian compulsory public television and radio channels with subsidies for the purpose of analogue broadcast signal distribution in settlements with a population of less than 100 thousand inhabitants until 2018 inclusive. It is assumed that TV channels, if desired, will be able to continue broadcasting in analogue format after 2018. The analogue broadcast format will remain as long as there is a need for it among TV viewers and broadcasters.

Sovetskaya Sibir was looking into whether it’s time to throw out old TVs, whether it will show a blue screen in the outback, whether you’ll have to pay to watch your favorite programs.

Good news right away: with the launch of digital broadcasting, Russians will receive a set of 20 TV channels in high quality absolutely free of charge, which was recently available only in paid packages. According to the head of the department of informatization and development of telecommunication technologies of the Novosibirsk region, Anatoly Dyubanov, in order for “digital” to become publicly available, a federal target program “Development of television and radio broadcasting in the Russian Federation for 2009–2018” was developed. Thanks to it, at the expense of the federal budget, over the previous eight years, a state network of digital terrestrial television and radio broadcasting (DTTV) of the first and second multiplexes was built in our region - this is the name for a package of programs that are broadcast by one transmitter. In fact, there are now two multiplexes in the country, each with ten TV channels. The first includes Channel One, “Russia 1”, “Russia 2”, “Match TV”, NTV, Channel Five, “Russia - Culture”, “Russia 24”, “Carousel”, OTR, TVC; in the second - REN TV, Spas, STS, Domashny, TV-3, Friday, Zvezda, Mir, TNT, Muz-TV.

He noted that at the launch of the network, 98.24 percent of the region’s population will be covered digitally. At the same time, the signal will not be able to be received in 191 settlements. But their total number of inhabitants is considerable - more than 48 thousand people, that is, about 18,849 households.

Due to the fact that at the federal level it was decided not to allocate funding for the construction of new network facilities to cover all settlements, FSUE "RTRS" additionally configured transmitting and receiving antennas at existing facilities and thus reduced the number of settlements not covered by digital broadcasting - Anatoly Dyubanov reported.

The head of the department added that the number of settlements where CETV is completely absent was reduced to 135; in 58 villages, only partial coverage was provided. The problems are mainly related to the terrain, as well as the remoteness of these settlements from communication facilities. After adjustment, 1.46 percent of the region's population remains unreached.

What should this minority do - throw away the TV and return to the radio? No need for extremes. In order to ensure that even in difficult times Russians are not left without their favorite TV shows, it was decided at the federal level to provide them with a satellite signal.

Thanks to joint work at the federal and regional levels, an agreement was reached with satellite television operators NTV Plus and Tricolor TV on a preferential cost for installing satellite equipment for residents of settlements that are still without a CETV signal, as well as on free broadcasting for them a package from 20 all-Russian mandatory public television channels,” said Anatoly Dyubanov.

Not yet digital television has not become universal, many questions remain. Some of them were answered by the sales director of the MTS branch in the Novosibirsk region, Alexander Vinogradov.

Will the transition to digital be paid or free? After all, many apartments and houses in the Novosibirsk region already have digital television, but only through telecommunications companies. Everyone who is connected to digital TV in this way currently pays a subscription fee. Svetlana Gorbunova, Ob - Federal mandatory public channels on the RTRS network (common antenna) are provided free of charge, subject to the presence of a new TV set that supports the digital standard or a special set-top box. In the networks of other operators, the subscriber pays for access to the network. In cities with channels of the first and second multiplex there should be no problems with access to free digital broadcasting. In remote areas, there may be problems with the availability of digital TV. Those who use pay TV services (cable or satellite - no matter which operator) will not be affected.

Will you need new TV to switch to digital television? Viktor Vasilievich Krotov, Berdsk

To use digital television, you need to have a more or less modern TV. If you bought your TV before 1998, it probably doesn't have digital tuner. Look at the TV's passport or find information about this model on the Internet. If the inscription DVB-T2 is present, it means it supports it. If there is no number 2, then you are out of luck. You will need to additionally install a special digital set-top box. Majority modern TVs support the DVB-T2 broadcast standard, which broadcasts free multiplexes. Where digital broadcasting is not available (remember, this is less than 1.5 percent. - Ed.), you will need to buy the appropriate equipment from satellite TV operators. Therefore, the government's proposed bill on providing broadcasting by satellite operators is being considered. But the subscriber will need to purchase it himself satellite equipment and pay for access to the operator’s network.

Is it different digital antenna from a regular analogue one and will it be necessary to reconfigure the antenna? Ekaterina V., urban settlement Kochenevo

Most modern TVs already support the DVB-T2 broadcast standard, which broadcasts free multiplexes. Therefore, to receive free digital terrestrial television, you just need to purchase a UHF antenna (collective or individual, outdoor or indoor, depending on your living conditions). The cost of a decimeter antenna starts from 300 rubles, digital set-top box- from 700 rubles. Antenna, attachment and connecting antenna cable can be purchased at stores that sell consumer electronics. You can understand in what format you are watching the program and whether digital signal adjustment is necessary by looking at the special letter A on the TV screen.

Will residents of the region be able to watch local TV channels broadcast in analogue format? Director of the Novosibirsk Regional Television and Radio Broadcasting Network Sergei Eclair said that at the moment OTS-TV has a license for analogue broadcasting and it has not been revoked. Accordingly, it is planned to continue this broadcasting in full.

At yesterday's press conference at TASS-Siberia, Alexander Otsetsky, director of the RTRS branch Siberian Regional Center, reassured:

There are no forced bans on analogue broadcasting from January 1, 2019 and there will not be any. Our regional channels, which broadcast in Novosibirsk and in a number of areas of the region where there are local television stations, will be able to continue to operate in accordance with existing licenses. For God's sake, no one forbids them to broadcast as the regional television and radio network - OTS. All their transmitters will continue to operate. Retuned TVs show first digital channels- starting from the New Year there will be twenty of them, and then there are channels that can be received in “analogue”, nothing will change for them. Maybe just the channel order. Deputy Minister of Digital Development, Communications and Mass Communications of the Russian Federation Alexey Volin states that there are no difficulties or obstacles.

A key role in ensuring equal conditions of access to information belongs to the program for the development of television and radio broadcasting in the Russian Federation. Thus, the introduction of digital television should ensure that almost 98% of the population can confidently receive at least 20 television channels in higher quality than analog television (in SD format). The most critical years in terms of the launch of the first and second multiplexes were 2013 and the beginning of 2014. During this period, the overwhelming majority of the population of our country should gain access to the opportunity to receive digital broadcasting.

At the end of 2013, 54% of our country’s population already had access to the programs of the first and second multiplex. In addition, about a third of the Russian population is connected to cable TV networks, and a quarter of the population has satellite television dishes in their houses and apartments, which allow them to receive more large quantity channels and in higher quality (including HD). These shares of the population overlap in many ways, but taken together we can confidently say that today over 60% of Russian families have the opportunity to receive 20 or more television channels. Moreover, a third of the population has the technical ability to install high-definition television.

On December 7, 2009, V. Putin signed the Federal Target Program (FTP) “Development of television and radio broadcasting in the Russian Federation for 2009-2015.” The total budget of the Federal Target Program will be 122.445 billion rubles. Of these, 76.366 billion rubles. it is planned to allocate from the federal budget, and the remaining 46.079 billion rubles. attract from extra-budgetary sources. Among the main items in the Federal Target Program passport are the construction of terrestrial digital networks (60.2 billion rubles), the creation of satellites (26 billion rubles) and the introduction of radio broadcasting in the DRM standard (13.684 billion rubles).

At the end of December 2013, the Russian communications and broadcasting satellite Express-AM5 was successfully launched from the Baikonur Cosmodrome. The new AM5 heavy-class spacecraft, equipped with 84 C-, Ku-, Ka- and L-band transponders, will be placed in geostationary orbit at 1400 East longitude, from where it will provide coverage of the Far East and Siberia.

The satellite will create the necessary infrastructure to provide for the population eastern regions countries with accessible multi-program digital television and radio broadcasting, including high-definition television. The AM5 spacecraft is also designed to solve problems of mobile presidential and government communications, broadband Internet access, providing a package of multiservice services (digital television and radio broadcasting, telephony, video conferencing, data transmission) and to create communication networks based on VSAT technology in Siberia and the Far East.

From the Express-AM5 satellite, the constituent entities of the Russian Federation will be provided with a signal from the first and second federal multiplexes, and will also be provided with the opportunity to distribute regional multiplexes in broadcasting zones “A” and “B”. These include the regions of the Far Eastern Federal District, as well as the Trans-Baikal Territory.

Today in Russia both analogue and digital television operate simultaneously. As soon as digital TV is fully launched throughout the country, analogue broadcasting will be turned off. Then it will be possible to operate the third, fourth and subsequent multiplexes. At the government commission on television and radio broadcasting, it was decided that the complete shutdown of analogue TV will occur on July 1, 2018 - by this date all regions will finally switch to digital broadcasting.

Digital broadcasting in Russian regions:

Kazan became the first Russian city whose residents have access to 19 free digital channels. At the end of June 2013, digital terrestrial television broadcasting of the second multiplex in the DVB-T2 standard opened in the capital of Tatarstan.

Kalmykia. As of mid-2013, the coverage of the population of Kalmykia region by digital broadcasting was more than 77%. It is planned that the total coverage by the end of the Federal Target Program will be 96.59%.

Magadan. In September 2013, broadcasting of the second digital television multiplex was launched in Magadan and channel packages of the first multiplex in the villages of Sokol, Raduzhny and Tauisk. Radiotelevision transmitting station (RTTS) “Sopka Krutaya” is one of the first digital television and radio broadcasting facilities in the Magadan region that participate in the implementation of the Federal Target Program. According to the program, the total in the territory of this region it is planned to build 35 objects. Currently, 68% of the population of the Magadan region have access to digital television. Before the launch of the second multiplex, this number was 62%. By the end of 2015 it should increase to 97.6%. By this time, residents of the region will have access to at least nineteen guaranteed free television channels in digital quality.

Novgorod region. The transition to digital television in the Novgorod region began in March 2013. Residents of Veliky Novgorod, the village of Proletary (Novgorodsky district), the village of Uglovka (Okulovsky district), the city of Valdai and the village of Zaluchye (Starorussky district) were the first to be able to watch digital channels. It is planned that by the end of 2015 the territory of the Novgorod region will be covered by digital television by 96%.

Perm region. In the summer of 2013, digital television became available in the Perm region. A repeater has started working in the regional center, transmitting an terrestrial TV signal in digital format. In 2013, about 2 million people switched to digital, in 2014 - up to 2.4 million, and by 2015 - 2.57 million people, that is, 95% of all residents of the region. Reconstruction of 35 points is planned for 2014, and by the end of the program, 54 digital TV relay points will be operational in the Perm Territory. The implementation of the Federal Target Program provides for the complete phase-out of analogue TV by 2017.

The final stage of TV re-equipment in the Perm region will be the construction of a new television tower 275 meters high. The new repeater will provide more high quality broadcasting, and will also expand the coverage area by 10 kilometers.

Tver. The era of digital terrestrial television in Tver and the Tver region began on March 28. The first multiplex of eight state TV channels in a new quality is available to residents of Tver, as well as some rural settlements of the Kalininsky, Rameshkovsky, Torzhoksky and Likhoslavlsky districts of the Tver region, located around the regional center. By the end of 2015, in every point of the Tver region, from Vesyegonsk to Toropets, it will be possible to receive 20 high-definition TV channels.

Digital television is watched by 10% of TV viewers, according to iKS-Consulting analysts. The federal target program for the transition from analogue to digital format of terrestrial television started six years ago, to date digital signal available in almost all regions of the country. Satellite TV is the most popular among Russians - it is watched in 33% of the country's households.

The iKS-Consulting agency published the results of a survey conducted jointly with the Cable Guy magazine. “With the hypothetical availability of digital terrestrial broadcasting to almost two-thirds of television households in Russia, the real number of those who use digital terrestrial broadcasting is estimated at just over 10% of the total number of television households: the lack of receivers and the low percentage of renewal of the TV fleet still have an impact,” notes the report. report. At the end of 2014, out of 55.2 million households, 52.36 million received a TV signal, of which 55% had a digital format. The most popular way to receive a TV signal in Russia was satellite television— 33% (see figure).

Initially, the Federal Target Program “Development of Television and Radio Broadcasting in Russia in 2009-2015” assumed that by the end of this year the first multiplex (a package of channels broadcasting on the same frequency in digital format) would be able to be received by 100% of the country’s population, and the second by 98.3%. In each subject, parallel broadcasting was to be carried out until at least 95% of the region's population acquired televisions or special set-top boxes capable of receiving digital TV. The exception is border regions, where analogue TV was planned to be switched off on June 17 under the Geneva-06 agreement (otherwise it could interfere with digital TV in neighboring countries). However, at the beginning of the year, the Federal Target Program was extended until 2018, the target indicators were lowered (the first multiplex should cover 98.3% of the population, two multiplexes - 98%) and a number of other changes were made. For example, the criterion of 95 percent coverage disappeared from the text.

The Ministry of Telecom and Mass Communications and the Federal State Unitary Enterprise "Russian Television and Radio Broadcasting Network" (RTRS), which builds multiplex distribution networks, do not have data on the number of viewers of digital terrestrial TV. RTRS only notes that they have launched digital TV in 83 regions of Russia with the exception of the Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous Okrug and Bashkiria (should launch today). The first multiplex can be watched by 87% of TV viewers, the second by 57%. The new edition of the Federal Target Program does not have an exact date and criteria for turning off analogue TV. “Within the framework of multi-structure and multi-format, analogue broadcasting should and can exist as long as there is demand for it. That is, as long as there are people willing to pay for this service. It will die out naturally,” Deputy Minister of Communications and Mass Communications Alexei Volin recently told Kommersant. .

The first step on this path, in his opinion, will be the cessation of government funding for the distribution of the analog signal of mandatory all-Russian public channels in cities with a population of less than 100 thousand people after 2018. "Under these conditions, the population will switch to multiplexes, and the difference between digital and non-digital pictures will become obvious. With an increase possible ways delivery of a signal to the viewer, analogue broadcasting will most likely begin to disappear after 2020,” Mr. Volin predicted. At the same time, in the border regions, analogue broadcasting continued after June 17: TV transmitters were simply tuned to other frequencies, a small part was left to work on the old one - before receiving complaints from neighbors.

Most of the country's population receives TV signals not over the air, but through pay TV operators. At the end of 2014, pay TV had 37.7 million subscribers, iKS-Consulting estimated. Among them, 59% used digital TV services. “In the context of insufficient progress in digital terrestrial TV, as well as a low level of digitalization in the cable TV segment, the leader of digitalization in Russia has become satellite television broadcasting, both paid and free,” the report notes.