Russian television channels on YouTube platform

The article is devoted to the analysis of the activities of Russian television channels on the YouTube site. This is one of the stages of a comprehensive study conducted by the Department of Television and Radio Broadcasting, Faculty of Journalism, Lomonosov Moscow State University to understand the processes of transformation of audiovisual content in digital space. At this stage, in 2019, July 27 Russian television channels were selected (including channels in Russian multiplexes), their YouTube accounts were analysed, in terms of the number of subscribers and added videos, as well as the most popular video data channels, the audience’s reaction to them, monetisation, timing, etc. As a result of the preliminary stage of the study, it was found that on most channels there is a “cheat” of views and likes by “bots”, as a result of which the videos do not go to the YouTube trends section and do not become viral.