“Traditions cannot be changed” – Kommersant FM

Russians are not enthusiastic about New Year’s programs. According to the portal SuperJob.ru, only 11% of the country’s citizens intend to watch entertaining television programs on the holiday night. The corresponding survey was conducted from November 28 to December 1, 2023 among 2 thousand respondents representing the economically active population over the age of 18. Kommersant FM political commentator Dmitry Drize is not surprised by this state of affairs.

According to the SuperJob.ru portal, 11% of Russians will definitely watch entertaining TV shows on New Year’s Eve. 33% intend to turn on the TV as a background to brighten up the holiday conversation. 45% of respondents do not intend to watch New Year’s television programs. Another 11% have not yet decided what to do. The main audience of “blue lights” are women and men over 45 years old.

It is no secret that the Russian people have long been no longer delighted with the repertoire of state television. Especially young people. And some people don’t have a TV at all – even such outrages sometimes happen. For some reason, it is believed that our fellow citizens terribly miss the soulful Soviet times.

Then the Blue Light program was expected for almost a whole year. And after it, quite late, they showed “Melodies and Rhythms of Foreign Pop.” It was an opportunity to see a not very depraved and provocative, but still popular foreign musical group. During difficult working days, this was not available.

Actually, the builders of communism had no choice – one program and no alternative. Perhaps you could catch hostile voices on the radio, but they were jammed, and you won’t see the picture there. Now the situation is fundamentally different. Nowadays there is an alternative, at least for now.

Be that as it may, the repertoire of the main channels remains unchanged from year to year. And the selection of the main performers, let’s say, is not captivating with its novelty. But traditions cannot be changed – 100 years will pass, but the Blue Light will remain. This is a sign of stability. There is no need for experiments – the electorate is accustomed to the fact that every year on New Year’s Eve they show a show filmed the day before with the same artists. And before that, “The Irony of Fate” and then all the holidays are favorite Soviet comedies.

Of course, I won’t impose my opinion, but it seems that the Russian official stage has not been particularly shining lately. What is the main problem? Yes, everything is the same: the 21st century is in the yard, and for some reason they are returning us to the 20th century. And here’s something else I’d like to say: in the midst of the dashing 90s, the series “Old Songs about the Main Thing” was created. Soviet hits were sung in a new way. People liked it. We made new episodes, then another.

The general meaning is this: the Soviet Union no longer exists, but it seems that it is alive and is still with us. So the youth were drawn into all this. Now some are arguing, even looking for a political motive in all this, they say, they did this for a reason, they ennobled the image of the USSR, covered up its totalitarian essence, put on sheep’s clothing.

Let’s not discuss this. But the Soviet songs in the new version also became boring. It’s time to come up with something new, but many different restrictions have appeared recently. And the creators-creatives, apparently, are no longer the same, and others have dispersed in all directions. There are not enough staff everywhere. So look, Russian people, “lights” if you like. But no, as mentioned above, there is still an alternative, and it is quite possible to take advantage of it.

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