Ways for the increasing of the municipal regional TV station news broadcasting efficiency
This article is an attempt to trace the development of the regional TV stations in the Russian Federation. The authors marked key issues that hindered the growth of these media outlets. Special attention is paid to the activity and the operational mode of the municipal broadcasters of the Russian Federation - both in regional centres and in small towns. The research underscores the difficulties that have to be tackled by the municipal stations for their future development in the upcoming years. It also highlights the complexities in the development of the local media. They are predetermined by such factors as the business sustainability and social consistency in the development of the country. The solution to the issue is the increase in the audience loyalty that leads to the boost of the ratings and viewing shares. The author proves that the key tool in this process is the development of multimedia platforms that tend to be popular among the segments of the target audience. Another crucial factor is the increase of live broadcasts and special programmes that cover key events in the life of the cities. The article contains a case study of STV/IKSTV, a municipal broadcaster in the city of Sevastopol where one of the authors worked as a senior news editor from 2018 till 2020. That is the period of a “multimedia breakthrough” that increased the broadcast quality as well as the popularity of the station. This is proven by the media measurements, citation indexes and corporate research that was carried out by the management of the station.