Research of Channels for Additional Digital Distribution of Russian-language Media

Digital, mobile and social networks have become an important part of the daily lives of people around the world. Currently, the number of social media users has crossed 3.8 billion. This trend affected the work of the media: researchers note that when they switch to a more digital and socially active online environment, the media retains their status as producers of content, but their significance decreases when it is distributed. Increasingly, users are faced with the content of publications through search engines, social media, aggregators, and so on. In the changed practice of both the production of content and its distribution, it is necessary to study the issue of distribution of media products through additional digital channels on the Internet. The scientific novelty of the study is to identify universal channels for the additional distribution of Russian-language media and their distribution by priority level for each of the thematic media groups. Also, consideration of the additional distribution of media content will help to identify key patterns of media behavior on digital platforms and compare them with the tasks that are implement thanks to this activity. The object of research is the digital distribution of Russian-langаuage media on the Internet. The subject is channels of additional digital distribution and their use and selection. The purpose of this study is to identify universal groups of channels for the additional distribution of media content of Russian-language media of various subjects. Chronological scope of the study. The paper analyzes the behavior of eight Russian-language media in the channels of additional digital distribution during the period from February to April 2020. The channel selection included: social media VKontakte, Facebook, Twitter, Odnoklassniki, Instagram, instant messengers Viber, Telegram and TamTam, referral channel Yandex. Zen and Youtube video hosting. The empirical base of the study consisted of the channels for additional distribution of the most cited media in social media according to the “Medialogy” data as of February 2020, as well as in-depth interviews with their representatives: TASS, “RIA Novosti”, “Izvestia”, “Snob”, The Village, RBC, Cosmopolitan, Elle. The structure. The study includes an introduction, two chapters and four paragraphs, a conclusion, a list of references, a list of sources and applications. The total amount of work is 218 pages. The conclusions put forward for defense can be formulated as follows: 1. Russian-language media of various subjects have formed priority groups of additional digital distribution channels: with a high, medium and low development. 2. Channels of additional digital distribution are selected and prioritized depending on the topics and information policy of publications, marketing goals and priorities for for internet platforms development. 3. The two main tasks of using additional digital distribution channels are attracting traffic to the media site and increasing coverage within each of their platforms.