Socio-cultural factor in the development of russian and chinese television broadcasting

N owadays the Russian and Chinese broadcasting systems are being influenced by the same trends that determine the development of telecommunications in all countries of the world. However, their concrete manifestation in both Russian and Chinese television broadcasting quite differ from the same ones in other countries because, fitting into the global context, it has socio-cultural specific features determining by the historical development of the country, distinctive culture, ethical peculiarities, national mentality.

Russian scholars believe that the system of Russian television broadcasting is sufficiently unique. They name the following factors that make this system specific one: the vast territory of the country; the long history of the television development going back to the years of the Soviet power, a difficult transition period from Soviet epoch to the days of new Russia and, without any doubt, the ethnic, confessional, regional diversity of the Russian Federation [1, p. 202].

M. Myasnikova states that the first programs of Russian (at that times – Soviet) television were cultural and educational ones. The first production of regular broadcasting from Moscow was culture-oriented. The grid of television broadcasting included literary readings, concerts and fragments of theatre performances [2, p. 83].

Today there are also many broadcasts of so-called «cultural segment», which can be divided into three large groups: 1) news programs and informational and analytical broadcasts, the purpose of which is to give the fresh information and current events to the viewer; 2) sports competitions; 3) educational and entertainment programs (feature films and documentaries, soap operas, reality shows, shows with «stars», humorous programs, quiz shows, etc.) [1]. In spite of the European and American culture «val-ues» which have flooded into Russia in the beginning of the 21st century, Russian society carefully preserves traditional values which have been formed under the influence of various factors during the historical development of the country. So, despite the fact that the broadcast of many television channels is «clogged» with characters of high-profile scandals (such TV programs, unfortunately, find their viewers), Russian television, in general, is characterized by cultural universals. There are special channels fostering culture in Russia. For instance, the channel «Russia-K» broadcasting programs about arts and culture. Through this channel, the small audience that is tired of watching entertainment shows on TV can see the objects of the world’s cultural heritage and classical art, hear the news of cultural life. The channel’s activity increases the intellectual and spiritual level of the Russian population

During last years talk show genre has been gaining popularity in Russia. Such talk shows as «The Person’s Fate» with Boris Kochevnikov, «Live show» and «Hello, Andrew» with Andrey Malakhov won the hearts of the audience.

It should be noted that in Russia the talk show genre received a political coloring, which led to the creation of programs in which leaders of political parties, political observers and analysts, deputies, representatives of state structures take their part. They discuss events in the country and abroad, talk about political events inside and outside. Such programs «Sunday Evening with Vladimir Solovyov» and «60 Minutes» raise not only the political but the cultural level of the Russian viewers, instill a sense of patriotism in the viewing audience, make the viewers to respect those who, from the point of view of the show’s hosts, have committed honorable deeds.

Thus, despite the influence of the European and American culture the Russian television goes side by side with culture. In China, as in Russia, national television programs are trying to bring culture to the public. Today Chinese television, like the Russian one, has a multidisciplinary character and satisfies the cultural needs of all target groups of the Chinese audience. As for the preferences of the Chinese citizens in the context of the socio-cultural dynamics of Chinese television, we must note that such a television genre as TV show dominates among the Chinese viewers as well. These entertainment programs appeared in China at the beginning of the XXI century, but they did not have national specifics at that years. Until 2017 the majority of such programs (48 %) were Chinese versions of the foreign TV shows. So in 2010 the General Directorate of Radio, Cinema and Television published a circular calling for an end to shows and programs promoting the «cult of money». According to the adopted document, the TV managers must limit the number of entertainment programs on television and create «cultural programs» that would promulgate the traditional Chinese values and Chinese culture [3, p. 89].

Fulfilling this decree, Chinese television released several programs in 2013. These broadcasts, entertaining in form, had cultural line. TV projects devoted to Chinese history, literature and language