Football has defeated propaganda: Russians are watching the World Cup instead of political talk shows on state channels.

The sports channel Match TV, which is broadcasting the World Cup in North America, has displaced major propaganda and entertainment shows from its top television slots. Pay attention to this. drew journalists of the project "We Can Explain".

According to Mediascope ratings, match broadcasts are among the most viewed. The best result was achieved by Argentina's match against Egypt on July 7: this match was watched by twice as many people as the country's main political program, "Vesti Nedeli" (News of the Week), hosted by Dmitry Kiselyov.

Over the past month, Match TV broadcasts have occupied four of the top five spots in the ratings, and even six of the top 12 spots. And this was before the semifinals, which traditionally attract much larger crowds.

As a result, Match TV became the main channel among Russian viewers for the first time in a long time, displacing the main federal television channels (including Channel One and NTV).

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