RoundSparrowIn his book Nothing is True and Everything is Possible, Peter Pomerantsev, a British citizen of Russian descent who worked in Russian TV, notes, “The first thing the President had done when he came to power in 2000 was to seize control of television.” But that control was not absolute.
Vladimir Putin And SpongeBob: The Stars Of Russian TV
Having watched Russian TV both online and while in Russia, I can say unequivocally the two stars of Russian television are Vladimir Putin and SpongeBob SquarePants. The emergence of SpongeBob as a popular figure in Russia would surprise anyone familiar with Soviet-era television. Soviet TV was dreary, with little Western programming [...]