BBC Monitoring research ,
10, January 2008

There is a robust market for Russian-language media in Azerbaijan, particularly among those who received their education in Russian. Outside Baku a clear majority watch and read news in Azerbaijani and in Turkish. It is only in Baku that the Russian-language audience is of comparable size.

The 1999 census put the number of ethnic Russians in Azerbaijan at 140,000 (1.75 per cent of the total population, which is more than 8 million). However, there are plenty more who are more fluent in Russian than in Azeri. The Day.az website estimates their number to be more than 500,000.

Limited impact

The decision by the National TV and Radio Council to end rebroadcasts in Azerbaijan of Russia's state-controlled television channels Channel One (on 11 July 2007) and RTR-Planeta (on 1 January 2008) only affected those living in Baku and the nearby city of Sumqayit. These TV channels were not broadcast across the rest of Azerbaijan.

Still, a wide range of Russian-language media is available to the Azerbaijani public: some TV news bulletins, Russian-language newspapers and news websites. Russian broadcasters are also available via satellite and inexpensive cable TV packages, which usually include at least half a dozen major Russian TV channels.

Azerbaijan's state-run Channel One (AzTV) and Public TV (ITV) channels broadcast one of their news bulletins in Russian from Monday to Friday. These are essentially the same stories featured in their Azerbaijani-language news bulletins stations. They do not attract big audiences.

The most popular news website in Azerbaijan, Day.az, publishes in Russian. The Russian section of its forum is more lively by far than its Azerbaijani counterpart. Other news websites, for instance Trend.az, have Azerbaijani, English and Russian versions.

The Russian-language newspapers Zerkalo and Ekho are among the most widely read in Azerbaijan. The two papers claim print runs of 10,000 and 6,000 respectively, which compare well with the most popular pro-opposition newspaper Yeni Musavat (10,100) and the ruling party's official organ, Yeni Azarbaycan (4,000). Their editorial stance and choice of topics are in line with those of Azerbaijani-language newspapers. The same applies to other Russian-language newspapers, for instance Bakinskiy Rabochiy.

Zerkalo and Ekho often feature pieces strongly condemning Russia over its regional policies or treatment of ethnic Azerbaijanis working in the Russian Federation. The Russian ambassador to Azerbaijan, Vasiliy Istratov, publicly criticized Zerkalo over an article alleging Russian involvement in the collapse of a multi-storey building in Baku in August 2007.

Cable or satellite

Another option for those in Azerbaijan who prefer to "consume" their news in Russian is to install a satellite dish (which will cost under 200 dollars) or to subscribe to a cable TV company. A basic package is likely to include several major Russian TV channels and may cost less than 10 dollars a month. Cable TV companies operate only in Baku.

The biggest cable TV company, Baku & Boston TV Communications (also known as B&B TV), offers a choice of three packages. The most basic of them costs less than nine dollars a month and includes 33 channels: 14 in Russian, 10 in English, five in Turkish and four in Azeri. The standard package provides 60 channels for 19 dollars, while the de luxe version offers 81 TV channels at a price of less than 30 dollars.

Although statistics are not readily available, there is overwhelming anecdotal evidence that the number of satellite dishes installed surged in 2007 after the National TV and Radio Council of Azerbaijan decided to stop rebroadcasts of foreign TV channels in Azerbaijan. Cable TV companies also seem to have benefited from the move. However, many of those who switched to cable or satellite did so in order to follow TV shows and drama series in Turkish, rather than in Russian.