Timur Kizyakov: “We ourselves left Channel One back in May. Timur Kizyakov about the “orphan” scandal: “No one will do anything like that for such funds. Why Kizyakov was fired
Authors and presenters of popular TV programs continue to leave Channel One. Most of them say that they do not find mutual understanding with management. TV presenters are moving to other federal channels that compete with the first button. “360” talks about the latest and possible changes on the First.
RIA Novosti / Alexander Kryazhev
On Tuesday, August 15, it became known that Timur Kizyakov was added to the list of presenters who left Channel One. Earlier it was reported about the departure of Andrei Malakhov and Alexander Oleshko.
The reasons for Kizyakov’s dismissal have not been officially reported, but it is believed that this is related to the charitable activities of the TV presenter and his wife Elena. In December 2016, a scandal erupted related to the “You’re Having a Baby” column, which was published as part of the “While Everyone is Home” program. It showed video passports of orphans with the aim of finding new parents for them. The media received information that for the production of stories about orphans, Kizyakov immediately took money from Channel One, from the state, and from sponsors. The TV channel conducted its own investigation, which was followed by the dismissal of the presenter.
The TV presenter himself says that he was slandered and that everything was in order with the financial statements of his television company “Dom”, which produced video passports, and cooperation with the federal television channel was broken on his own initiative. The corresponding letter was sent to the channel on May 27.
We do not accept the methods of the management of Channel One that are currently being practiced there
According to him, when attacks on the program began, the channel’s management simply ignored the situation and did not stand up for Kizyakov’s team. He says that a number of companies that have begun to accuse him of embezzling money simply see him as a competitor, “because they see it as a business.”
RIA Novosti / Ekaterina Chesnokova
Vedomosti wrote at the end of last year that Kizyakov’s company for the production of video passports for orphans received 110 million rubles from the Ministry of Education and Science and at the same time from regional authorities.
“When a sponsor is present in a program, the absolute majority of sponsorship advertising goes to the channel. Some small part remains for the development program, and that’s all. And what the sponsor gives as a gift, and here a certificate for 100 thousand rubles was given, goes directly to the children’s institution where the child was shown,” explained Kizyakov.
The program “While Everyone is Home” has been broadcast on Channel One on Sundays since 1992. In it, famous people talked about themselves and their family over breakfast. Now the authors of the TV show are thinking about what to do in this situation.
A week ago, on August 9, it became known that showman Alexander Oleshko was also leaving Channel One. At different times, he hosted a number of entertainment programs, including the humorous parody show “Big Difference”, “One to One”, “Minute of Fame”, “Exactly the Same”.
“Being a free artist, I accepted an offer that I couldn’t refuse! Wherever and whoever you are with, the main task remains to give the viewer joy, peace of mind and good mood,” Oleshko wrote on his Instagram. Now the TV presenter can be seen in the show “You are Super!” Dancing”, which will air on NTV.
RIA Novosti / Vladimir Astapkovich
Rumors about the departure of Showman Andrei Malakhov in social networks back at the end of July. Later the information was confirmed. Competent sources claimed that Malakhov was leaving due to the fact that he could not work well with the new producer of “Let Them Talk” Natalya Nikonova. She returned to the channel not long ago and, according to one version, insisted that the popular talk show have more socio-political topics. Malakhov was categorically against this approach.
The TV presenter, according to some, decided to leave to host the “Live Broadcast” program on the Rossiya 1 TV channel. Along with him, the main part of the team that was involved in the production of “Let Them Talk” left. Malakhov himself wrote in the Vedomosti newspaper that the reason for his dismissal was precisely a conflict with management.
It has already been leaked to the media that Andrei Malakhov met with the team of the new project that he will lead and discussed the creation of the program. It is reported that the first program will be released at the end of August.
The series of dismissals of Channel One presenters may well continue. The website M24.ru previously said that TV presenter Elena Malysheva and Leonid Yakubovich could quit. However, in a conversation with “360” they did not confirm this information.
“Nothing happens on the channel and everything is great. But everyone has their own problems. Some programs are closed, some are changed. Some people are simply unhappy. We're not going anywhere. Until we are closed, we will work,” Leonid Yakubovich’s representative Anatoly denied the information.
Among the potential new hosts of “Let Them Talk” is the outrageous actor Nikita Dzhigurda. He told “360” that this was discussed, but he accuses the TV channel of slandering himself and his family, so he did not agree. Moreover, Dzhigurda connects the dismissal of Andrei Malakhov precisely with the fact that he once in his program accused the actor of forging the will of his rich girlfriend.
RIA Novosti / Maxim Bogodvid
“The transfer of Malakhov is connected with our statements to the police, the court and with the scandal provoked by the “Let Them Talk” program. The management of Channel One, in order to relieve themselves of responsibility and report that measures had been taken, started this game with Malakhov’s departure. My dream is for [Konstantin] Ernst to be fired from his position. I am convinced that few people want to tolerate the immoral methods that Channel One rebroadcast and with which dissenting journalists leave,” says the artist.
In a conversation with 360, other top presenters of Channel One said that they have no complaints against the management yet. “I cannot comment on the situation with the departure of the presenters, because I do not work there. Channel One simply buys my show, and I don’t plan to break off relations with them. I have no complaints about Channel One,” said journalist Vladimir Pozner.
Another old-timer of the channel, TV presenter and traveler Dmitry Krylov, agrees with him, who says that he has no complaints about his management. “And it would not be very correct for me to comment on the situation with the departure of the presenters, since I work on Channel One,” Krylov said.
TV people associate Kizyakov’s dismissal with the scandalous story that unfolded around the presenter in December last year. Let us remind you: the charitable part of Kizyakov’s program (the section “You will have a child”) was suspected of additional funding.
Timur with his wife Elena (Photo: screenshot from Channel One)
It turned out that such video cards with orphans cost a lot of money. This fact was voiced by the head of the department of state policy in the field of protection of children's rights of the Ministry of Education and Science, Evgeny Silyanov, at the final meeting with deputy governors for social issues, representatives of the Ministry of Education and Science.
The press service of Channel One then explained that the channel was not involved in the creation of the project:
“Channel One is buying the program “While Everyone is Home” from the Dom company. Since we are not involved in the creation of the project, we do not know the details of the authors’ relationships with government organizations, including financial ones. We have always considered charitable projects to be an important matter, and, of course, the column about orphans was welcomed by the channel. The information you provide is news to us. We'll figure out".
The Kizyakovs themselves (the presenter’s wife, Elena, also worked on the column) assured the journalists that they did not embezzle other people’s money and spent all the funds for their intended purpose.
It should be noted that Kizyakov’s program really helped many orphans. Over the 11-year history of the “You're Having a Child” column, many orphans have found homes.
“KP” got through to Timur Kizyakov. The presenter did not refute his departure from the “first button”, but was laconic.
Timur Borisovich, we heard that you are leaving Channel One. “While Everyone is Home” has gained so many fans over the years. Of course, they are worried about the future of the program. We wanted to know if you will be doing your program on another TV channel? - they asked Kizyakov.
“I won’t comment on this situation now,” Timur Kizyakov, the creator of “While Everyone Is Home,” answered KP.
Photo report: Urgant, Svetlakov, Lagutenko and others at Semyon Slepakov’s concert in Jurmala
TV presenter Timur Kizyakov broke off relations with Channel One of his own free will. He spoke about this in an interview with Kommersant FM. Previously, the management did not support Kizyakov and his team in a high-profile conflict - a scandal surrounding videos about orphans that were aired in the program “While Everyone is Home” since 2006. Later, Kizyakov and his wife Elena registered the “Video Passport” system and in 2014 received a tender from the state for the production of such videos. In addition, funding also came from sponsors. This caused a conflict between the channel’s management and the program team. Channel One even began an internal audit of the “While Everyone is Home” program.
- Please tell us about the essence of the conflict with Channel One.
I just returned from vacation, so I fully enjoyed the telephone versions of what was happening. The essence of the conflict is reflected in an official letter from our television company, which was transmitted and received by Channel One at the end of May of this year. It states, omitting the reason, that starting from June 4, we will stop producing the program for Channel One. This is the answer to the question of who broke off relations with whom. As for the reason, intelligently formulated, we can say that the methods of the management of Channel One have become unacceptable for us, and since we are not its employees, but are a company that produces content, we have the right to decide to maintain our self-esteem.
A number of media outlets, describing the story of video passports, mention that the state allocated funds for their production, and, in addition, the money came from certain philanthropists. Is it so?
The work on placing one child through a video passport cost and still costs 100 thousand rubles. That is, as it was 11 years ago, it remains so to this day. We have concluded an agreement with the Ministry of Education for the production of 100 video passports. Their creation is financed by the department. We sometimes produce 600 video passports a year, and this funding comes from various sources, including sponsors, and sometimes regions are involved when possible. Moreover, the sponsors are serious companies that value their reputation and which, before joining our common cause, analyzed and checked everything and everyone.
In response to the accusations, I want to say that this is a scandal, clearly inflated on the initiative of those companies that believe that we are their competitors, because they are doing business, and our quality is incomparable. So the stuffing was initiated.
For some reason, the Ministry of Education, which certainly knows a lot about this work and which has checked everything thoroughly, continues to work with us. I wonder why? For some reason, our reputation among officials has not changed. Now amateurs are trying to link this pseudo-scandal to our departure and present everything in such a light that it was not we ourselves who left Channel One, but that they abandoned us.
- Now many people remember that you sued some producers of similar video profiles.
They are trying to influence us with such methods in order to get rid of competitors. So, when we started this business 11 years ago, the word “video passport” was found, which had nothing to do with adoption. There were no words about the parents or the orphan. The word was simply found as a document. Not a single Internet search engine found it, because such a word did not physically exist. Over 11 years of work, it has become firmly associated with placing children in families with reliable information and video documentation. Then, in order to be responsible for our actions, we registered exactly this name - not the right to accommodate children, but precisely this name. There is nothing like that in this, as everyone understands. We were simply responsible for our work, we were responsible for it.
When we learned about ten years ago that in St. Petersburg, having thrown us out of the tender for the right to shoot video passports, the company that had previously been involved in apartment renovation won, and which began to shoot not 40-minute videos, but 40-second video concoctions, video crafts, and call it video passports, we wrote her a warning letter, suggesting that she change her name and disgrace herself under her own name. However, our proposal was cynically rejected. What was left for us? This was the only trial in our entire history. Therefore, talking about the fact that we are suing someone means lying. This is simply a lie, which we are ready to prove at any level.
- What is the future of the program, are there any plans already?
We plan to continue doing what we do, no matter what, because this is what we see as our civic duty. I also want to respond through your radio station to everyone who is trying to attribute this crime to us. Crimes always have a motive - the thirst for profit. The Video Passport project began 11 years ago. The program was then 14 years old, that is, we already had something to eat and live on, and we also had fame. And now they are trying to lump everything together in order to force us to make excuses. I believe that now people already have immunity; if they think about what is happening, then everything is obvious. Anonymous sources always come from somewhere and go somewhere. They blurt out something like that, and I have to explain and comment on it. Until some time, I will probably do this so that people understand what is happening. Also, now that there is such increased interest in the situation, there is an opportunity to really clarify what is going on.
Our website, called “Video Passport”, has all the data. To date, 3,227 children have been placed in families. That is, the average efficiency of our work is about 82%. The usual efficiency of our so-called colleagues is 30%, and they also do not do it for free. To those who like to reproach that philanthropists do not work selflessly, I would like to say - listen, when doctors perform an operation on a child, they also receive electricity for free, they are also given medical equipment for free? That is, these are just conversations designed for emotional incompetence.
Our ultimate goal is to provide all children with a video passport or video material. If there is a lot of these materials, then each film must have the utmost individuality. Because if they are formulaic, a person will get confused and drown in so many videos. Our only hope is that each such film will be made absolutely professionally and talentedly. Only then will the potential adoptive parents or adoptive parents of the child take notice. Therefore, we insist that each video be of a certain duration, but not less than 20 minutes, and that it contain a legal component, so that the person is explained what types of devices there are, so that extremely useful and understandable information is concentrated there.
I want to remind you of a story that happened on December 16, 2016. Elena Kizyakova and I attended a reception with the Minister of Education Olga Vasilyeva and told her about the real situation that is happening in the field of information support for children. We explained what indicators you need to look at, what really are signs of benefit for children, and what are signs of fraud and splurge. It’s very simple - if after all the efforts the efficiency of the children’s device has not increased, it means that all this is not being done for children, but for some other purpose. This is the main criterion. And we were understood.
After this, the minister called a meeting where our employees were instructed to pay special attention to this and strengthen control. What happened the next day? This is a massive hoax about the story of the “Video Passport” project. What doubts can there be here? The video passport is 11 years old, and for some reason it was leaked the day after our visit to the ministry. Moreover, it was listed as our fault that, it turns out, these competent works cost money, that we registered our name and that we, it turns out, are suing everyone, and this is a complete lie.
Interviewed by Alexey Sokolov
It all started with Malakhov, who hosted two super-rated projects on Channel One - “Let Them Talk” and “Tonight”. After a new producer came to the weekday prime-time program, Andrei left it. As they say, there are several reasons: reluctance to make a political program instead of a social one, the desire to have greater creative freedom and a salary corresponding to his ambitions (they wrote that for hosting “Let Them Talk” he received only 700 thousand rubles!).
ON THIS TOPIC
And it would be okay if he just left quietly, but no - he went over to his competitors at “Russia” and will now host the talk show “Live” instead of Boris Korchevnikov. Previously, this program was losing heavily to “Let Them Talk” in the ratings. Although she was actually a clone. Now the producers are confident that everything will be the other way around.
Following Malakhov, the team of editors, who prepared all the high-profile broadcasts, moved to the second button - looking for stories, themes, twists. The most scandalous heroes, including, by the way, Diana Shurygina and Dana Borisova, will also “move” to their competitors.
Then it became known that Alexander Oleshko would not remain on the first button. On the First he hosted "Minute of Glory" and "Exactly". Now he will work on NTV, where he was invited to host the show “You’re Super! Dancing.”
The next victim was the entertainment program “While Everyone is Home” - an old-timer on domestic television. Its author and presenter Timur Kizyakov came to visit famous artists, musicians, athletes and asked about life over a cup of tea. But they decided to close the program due to ethical problems (Kizyakov was accused of fraud with money). Now the program, as they say, will settle on “Russia”.
Fans are worried about the question: who else will leave Channel One? Among the most obvious options is the “Let's Get Married!” program. It has been published since 2008 and has been repeatedly criticized for “advertising pseudoscience” and “ugly models of sexual relations.” In addition, the reputation of the country's main matchmaker, Roza Syabitova, is pretty tarnished. The deceived brides said that they paid her 250 thousand rubles, but she never found grooms for them, and fake actors came on dates.
The matchmaker herself, who is currently on vacation, was very evasive about whether she would return to filming after the summer. But Larisa Guzeeva - alas or ah! – made it clear that the show was not going to be closed. "We'll start leaving soon!" – quotes the actress
In a telephone conversation with a Daily Storm correspondent, Timur Kizyakov, author and presenter of “While Everyone is Home,” said that in fact it was not “Channel One” that abandoned the program: its creators themselves decided to leave at the end of spring, and now the topics have been “raised “due to the flight of the presenters from the “first button” and the management’s attempts to hide it.
“On May 26 or 28, Channel One received from the Dom television company, which produces While Everyone is Home, an official letter with a stamp, signature, outgoing and incoming numbers,” said Timur Kizyakov, “that we are stopping the production of programs for Channel One. The management methods used by the management of Channel One have become unacceptable to us. I don't want to go into details now. Since the channel says this, it is an attempt to save face. Because the fact that the outcome of the leaders is happening is already obvious and probably means something. Nothing has been attributed to Andrey yet - they probably hope that he will return. If they realize that he will not return, they will obviously try to dig up something. And what’s interesting is that Channel One only woke up to scrupulousness in the first half of August: the program, it turns out, has a tarnished reputation. And this happened in December. The program is 25 years old this year, and when this clearly initiated scandal arose, what did the home channel do? He just stepped aside and pretended that he didn’t know us.
On Tuesday evening, RBC, citing sources close to Channel One, reported that the program “While Everyone is Home” will no longer be aired. The reason for the severance of relations was an internal audit, which began after it became known that Timur and Elena Kizyakov took money for the production of video passports of orphans for the section “You will have a child” from several sources at once - from the TV channel, the state and from sponsors .
“As for financing, it comes from two sources,” explained Timur Kizyakov. - This is government funding: the Ministry of Education, which very strictly monitors what money is allocated for and how it is spent. And sponsors. Moreover, we fundamentally refuse the help of private individuals, but work with large, serious companies. For example, with Ernst&Young, which conducted an audit and was convinced of how good this (production of video passports - 30-minute films with seven thematic chapters about orphans - DS note) is.
Kizyakov also confirmed receiving money from the TV channel, but he does not see anything criminal in this.
— The video passport and the rubric are two different products. The section lasts five minutes. The presenter flies to a distant northern region for two days. Tickets there, tickets back, hotel. This is a separate product. The video passport is filmed separately. And when this section appeared in the program and the cost estimate increased, naturally, this was included in the purchase price of the program. The cost is comparable to the reporting that would be done from those places. There can be no question of any exorbitant financing. Why does a video passport cost 100 thousand? Governors sometimes had doubts about this figure. Sometimes they don’t really understand production. I suggested: now your assistant calls the local television studio and says that we are a mid-range company and want to order a 20-minute film about ourselves, two or three interviews. And filming - in several places. And they named two or three prices for a video passport.
The scandal with video passports arose in December 2016, after TASS journalist Tatyana Vinogradova left a post on Facebook with the following content (spelling preserved):
“Many of you, of course, know the program “While Everyone is Home,” which is constantly hosted by Timur Kizyakov. I have always considered video stories about orphans who are looking for parents through this TV show to be very useful. But I thought it was a charity project of Channel One. How surprised I was to learn that, it turns out, Kizyakov makes video passports for orphans at the expense of the Ministry of Education and Science. One video passport - 100 thousand rubles. Tender per year - 10 million rubles. And at the same time, as a representative of the Ministry of Education said at the meeting, Kizyakov is suing other charitable organizations that are trying, at their own expense, with the help of volunteers, to make such video passports for other children from orphanages, trying to place as many children as possible in families. He is suing because he registered the copyright for the “video passport.” And most of the courts win, the Ministry of Defense added.”
“This stuffing that happened in December,” said Kizyakov, “everything happened there very simply.” On December 17, we had a reception with the Minister of Education Olga Vasilyeva in order to talk about the real situation that is happening in the matter of information support for children and their placement in families. And we proposed very tough, very strict, very merciless conditions for what is truly benign video production, which is aimed at children. To cut off those who pursue other goals. And literally two days later there was this stuff on the Internet about how we were making money and what we weren’t doing from it. For these companies that see self-interest, we are a bone in their throat, because as long as we exist, there is something to compare with.
