The presentation was handled by Director of the Higher School of Journalism and Media Communications Leonid Tolchinsky.

Listening to him were Rector Ilshat Gafurov, Minister of Education and Science of Tatarstan Engel Fattakhov, Head of Presidential Administration Asgat Safarov, Minister of Culture Ayrat Sibagatullin, Head of the Republican Media Agency Ayrat Zaripov, and others.

The channel is tentatively named Uen TV (“Play TV” in Tatar), and its target audience is kids and teens from 3 to 16 years of age. It is envisioned as a TV and video-on-demand service available on different types of online platforms. Dr. Tolchinsky compared the planned concept with successful IT companies, “In the manner of Uber not owning cars and AliExpress not owning shops the channel will not be the owner of TV companies or shows”.

The project may start as early as 2018. It is proposed that at first the platform will be free for everyone, and later it can be gradually monetized by adding microtransactions, premium subs­criptions, special services for parents, and other types of paid content. The platform may also be used for other languages further down the road.

A research was performed on the matter of current preferences of kids and teenagers. They are a generation almost entirely unfamiliar with standard TV and concentrated on Internet consumption. The projects for the channel will take that into account and will be educationally focused.

Tolchinsky commented, “This model allows us to launch the project gradually. It’s unnecessary to invest everything at once. Different apps and programs can be tested, something will take off, something won’t”. In his opinion, it’s a growing market, and sooner or later it will be filled by someone. This particular undertaking can be called a startup because no one has yet created VOD services for kids in languages spoken by less than 15 – 20 million people.

The discussion after Dr. Tolchinsky’s report added some ideas to the mix. President Rustam Minnikhanov then asked to present an updated version of the concept in two months.