Giant television screens in the city of Yekaterinburg usually used for advertising display the image of former Russian president Boris Yeltsin on the nationwide day of mourning observed on April 25, 2007. Yeltsin died on April 23, 2007, aged 76, and was buried in Moscow on Wednesday.
Photo: Pavel Lisizyn
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Moscow Tunes In to Say Good-Bye to Boris Yeltsin
// Funeral of Russia's First President Attracts 60% of Viewers in the Capital
According to TNS Gallup Media, the live broadcast of the funeral of first Russian president Boris Yeltsin on April 25 was watched by 59.7% of Moscow television viewers, and his subsequent interment ceremony attracted 64% of viewers. This is the largest percentage for any televised official event in the last five years: the most recent official broadcast to outdo it was President Putin's first televised "direct line" forum in 2001, which had an audience of 69% of viewers on two channels.
In contrast to other official events, including speeches in the Federation Council, Vladimir Putin's annual press conferences, or the president's "direct line" with Russian citizens, which are broadcast only on the channels Perviy Kanal and Rossiya, Yeltsin's funeral was also shown live on NTV, TV Center, and the satellite channel Vesti-24. The broadcast, with only a brief interruption for Yeltsin's family to say a private farewell, lasted for around four hours (from 13:00 to 17:00) on Wednesday afternoon.
The majority of Muscovites over the age of 18 watched the broadcast on the channel Perviy Kanal, which was watched by around 30% of viewers from 13:00 to 15:24, with a rating of 5.3% (i.e., one in every twenty Moscow residents). When the funeral procession from the Cathedral of Christ the Savior to Yeltsin's final resting place in the Novodevichy Cemetery was shown starting at 16:00, Perviy Kanal's share of viewers climbed to 32.3% and its rating jumped to 7.4%. Rossiya attracted 16.5% of viewers initially (rating of 3.3%), which grew to 21.7% (rating of 5%). TV Center, which featured no commentary and started earlier (at 11:45) than Perviy Kanal and Rossiya, attracted 10% of viewers, almost two times as many as regularly watch the station's broadcasts. NTV was watched by only 3% of viewers, for a rating of only 0.5%, which later rose to 5.4% (rating of 1.2%), which is almost three times less than usual.
Other recent official events that have attracted big audiences in Moscow were the president's "direct line" with the people on October 25, 2006 (59.6%) and his major annual press conference on February 1, 2007 (56.3%).
Arina Borodina
All the Article in Russian as of Apr. 27, 2007
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