Timur Weinstein: "I impressed with Formula 1 and the Rhythmic Gymnastics World Cup in Baku"

NTV's General Producer Timur Weinstein has recently visited his native city of Baku. The famous television figure told Vestnik Kavkaza about Azerbaijani sports and the 'You are super!' project.

- Timur Leonidovich, how do you assess the Rhythmic Gymnastics World Cup held in Baku this weekend?

- First of all, a magnificent gymnastic arena, where the tournament was held, should be noted. It is very good for a building to be built for a specific sport, because in the whole world they rather used to adjust competitions for an existing sports complex. But Baku has a special arena absolutely amazing and modern.

The organization itself should be noted as well. All the elements designed to attract the audience to the stands - which is priceless at the present time - are well-thought-out. Including the light going onto the carpet, which focuses the audience's attention on the performance of an athlete, and the line on the screen rising from the bottom up during the announcement of the results, when everyone is waiting for it to stop to understand what place the gymnast gets. It is amazing that the national ensemble performs melodies of the country from which the athlete came after each exercise, not just some music. Everything is done here very professionally, both in terms of technical organization and creativity. This is a celebration for everyone! The stands are full! I have no doubt that the participants of the Baku gymnastics tournaments, all these girls are leaving for their countries, saying that these were the best competitions in their life, that Baku is the best in hosting and organizing competitions. Therefore, it's been an enormous pleasure for me to be at this World Cup.

- What are your impressions of the Formula 1 Grand Prix of Azerbaijan?

- It's my first time at the Formula 1 race, and the impressions are amazing. I love sports very much, but I never had a chance to attend the Formula personally. And here I was just amazed by the race, because I had no idea that someone could flash past me at such a speed. It's fantastic! And I would note in particular that the Azerbaijan Grand Prix has become one of the most popular races in a short time. The Formula 1 calendar is not so big, many cities and the Grand Prix appear in it and then disappear, and I am happy and proud that Baku was well-established in the schedule of races. This is one of the three routes, except for Singapore and Monaco, where the race goes within the city limits - and this is the most difficult route that everyone is waiting for, because something always happens there. Baku has the narrowest corner in the history of Formula 1, after which it is necessary not to crash into the wall. It's really interesting to watch such a stunning track. The Sunday race was once again incredible.

And, again, it was very well done and amazingly organized. It's both a holiday for the audience and a very popular race discussed by the whole world. The Azerbaijan Grand Prix is already part of the great history of Formula 1, because not all countries can break through and gain a foothold at the event of such a level. The fact that Baku has succeeded is brilliant.

- What's about the 'You are super!' project?

- An unexpected transition. But in any case, thanks for the question. I am pleased that you are so interested in one of my favorite projects. This project is very important for our channel, I think that we managed to make it a truly meaningful event. Typically, social projects about people needing support are not very popular on television — they are broadcast either in the morning or late at night. But we managed to make not just an acute social project, but a great entertainment prime time show on Sunday with great ratings and audience interest. The project has a very large number of views on the Internet, hundreds of millions. We will definitely make the next season, continue the program, continue to help children who are left without parental care.

The  'You are super!' project has long gone beyond just being the television program. We have created the eponymous charitable foundation for our children, we pay them scholarships, help them with treatment, create opportunities for them to develop their creativity. We communicate with all children, we are in touch, they have our phone numbers. This is a part of our life. Very talented guys come from different countries, from Azerbaijan too. It is important that this is a competition for children who have a natural gift. Children's shows are popular all over the world, people like to look at talented children - they are our future after all, and we, looking at them, are happy that a new generation is so gifted. It is wonderful.

- How does the popularity of the Internet affect the television today?

- You know, everything is very simple. NTV has its own Youtube channel, with 5.2 million subscribers. People watch many NTV series on the Internet. Of course, we welcome the audience watching our TV shows both on TV and on the Internet. However there is a nuance. The fact is that the TV channel earns money by advertising to direct them to produce a new series, but there is still no intelligible monetization system for the Internet. That is, objectively, now it’s impossible to make money on a web series, especially in our countries where people don’t like to pay for content on the internet.