The Era of Emerald

After learning that the meeting with Berezovsky was scheduled for the first round of the Cup Winners Cup, Zhuang Minge took Karin, bid farewell to Chairman Ivanov, and stayed with the team that arrived in Moscow later. In a five-star hotel near the airport.

The reception staff at Spartak told Zhuang Minge that with the increasing prosperity of the transnational reselling business in the past few years, this hotel near the airport is the most high-end hotel in Moscow. Due to its superior location and Therefore, the service level is continuously improved, so it can attract more foreign tourists to stay.However, those hotels located in the downtown area of ​​Moscow, because they did not have such convenient conditions, lost their prosperity in the past.

Although the hotel is very close to the airport, the sound insulation effect of the room is quite good, and it's freezing outside now, Zhuang Mingge thinks it's more appropriate to stay in this warm room.

Staying in the hotel, according to the manager of this hotel, the long night time is not difficult to pass. The manager vowed that if Zhuang Mingge didn't want to go out to see the scenery of Moscow, then staying in the room and watching TV is also fine. Kill time.

Then watch Russian TV, it’s already this time, good-looking movies, entertainment programs and so on are basically unnecessary.Thinking so, Zhuang Mingge turned on the TV.

But what surprised Zhuang Minge was that in Moscow in 94, the number of local TV channels that could be received by this hotel was more than 60, which was already staggeringly large. .

"Damn it, the Russians are using satellite TV right now?" Zhuang Mingge looked at it for a long time and said in surprise.

After the disintegration of the Soviet Union, Russia implemented the so-called "market-oriented reform" in the country. A large number of military communication satellites were sold at the price of cabbage, and it was called "privatization of state-owned resources." <The bamboo shoots are like bamboo shoots, and countless companies have been established in just a few years.Moreover, compared with TV stations in other countries, these "junior" Russian TV stations have one of the biggest advantages, that is, they can easily realize the transition from local TV stations to cross-regional or even national TV stations.

Not because of anything else, but mainly because these Russian TV stations can use communication satellite resources that allow them to get rid of geographical restrictions in a very short period of time.The cost of renting communication satellites for television stations in the United States and Western Europe is a very large expenditure.But these Russian TV stations don’t have to worry about this, because the rent price given by the state in this regard is very low, and even the behind-the-scenes bosses of many TV stations own several satellites themselves.

In Russia, for these TV stations, there is no distinction between satellite TV and non-satellite TV at all - the vast majority of TV stations use satellite, and there are only a few cable TV stations.Basically, they are used as public resources for local government backup.

There used to be a joke: Other countries are desperately buying warships and building aircraft carriers; but Russian warships are docked in ports and used as piers, and some are even sold as scrap iron.

The same is true for satellites. TV stations in other countries can't afford satellites, but Russia's conquest has sold off satellite resources that it thought were no longer needed.In particular, the "military and civilian use" of communication satellites has been completely divided up by various forces in Russia.

Zhuang Mingge flipped through these channels casually. There were quite a few programs on TV, but most of them were purely promoting someone's political views, or reflecting the will of a certain oligarchic group.

It's no wonder that, despite the economic downturn, Russia's media industry can go against the current and develop so rapidly.It seems that those rich Russian businessmen and politicians who have absorbed a lot of Westernized ideas have retained the fine traditions of the former Soviet Union to the greatest extent.

Perhaps in the eyes of these people, in terms of controlling public opinion and propaganda, they are much better and smarter than those Westerners.

As for whether these TV stations can make money?God knows!

Looking at the leopard, it seems that Russia's politics, economy, and social life are far from reaching the level that ordinary people can live normally. In this extremely chaotic society, Russian football is destined to experience a long winter.

Looking at all these channels, Zhuang Mingge felt a little dizzy, so he turned off the TV decisively, called Karin from the next door to chat (when she was outside, Karin still appeared as Zhuang Mingge's secretary), and finally put the sleeping The time before has passed.

The next day was the first round of the Cup Winners Cup quarter-finals. The game time was set at 22:[-] pm, because if it was later, it would not be playing football. The [-] players who played first would be eliminated. Frozen into a popsicle.

Although the game will start at [-]:[-] in the afternoon, because the stadium is relatively old, there are no heating facilities inside, and there are no so-called VIP boxes, which makes Zhuang Mingge have to stand in the stands to watch the team's game.

Despite wearing several layers of coats, Zhuang Mingge still felt a bit of chill.

I can still feel the cold dressed like this, so the players on the field... Zhuang Mingge shivered at this thought, and didn't dare to think about it.

There was still some time before the start of the game, and there were not many fans in the stands. Zhuang Mingge, who was shivering from the cold, looked around the entire stadium.

What caught Zhuang Mingge's eyes was an ancient stadium, which revealed endless desolation everywhere: rusty goals, dilapidated nets, weedy playing fields, and seriously damaged stands.

A staff member of the Spartak Club who accompanied him to watch the game told Zhuang Mingge that now in Russia, the glory of football in the former Soviet Union is no longer seen, and outstanding Russian players have left their hometowns for their own livelihood; fans, now they are concerned about how to find enough food and clothing to survive this cold winter.In terms of clubs, with the bankruptcy of the youth sports school model, the youth leagues and even the corporate leagues that were once in full swing have all been suspended. Russian clubs, which are used to taking whatever they want from sports schools, have tasted the taste of being cut off for the first time.

Hearing these words, Zhuang Mingge suddenly recalled that those second-rate players who were kicked out by Russian clubs in the past played very well in South Korea, Japan, and even Chinese leagues. The majestic Russian striker Valoja, before he went to China, was just an amateur player who caught a lot of players in Russia...

Players abroad are thriving, but the youth echelons formed by domestic clubs have difficulty finding available talents. This is the status quo of Russian football and the entire sports industry.