FROM TRADITIONAL MEDIA TO TELEGRAM CHANNELS:THE PATH OF INFORMATION TRANSFORMATION

The article examines the features defining the shift of Russian mass media audience attention from traditional information sources to telegram channels in the period from 2021 to 2024. By the tools of statistical and thematic analysis, the author correlates the positive dynamics of the News and Media category in Telegram channels, which acts as a factor in unfolding reducing attention to traditional media, with media consumption trends in the media and on other new media platforms. The dynamics of audience engagement in telegram channels is compared with the highest-rated TV and radio programs, as well as with the free press. VKontakte and Zen were used as new media platforms for further comparison. The trend in the dynamics of telegram channels targeted to news is given in correlation with the number of traditional media operating in Russia. The reasons for the transformation of audience preferences among consumers of information content are separately described, and the codependency between the increase in the number of information channels in Telegram and the decrease in the number of traditional periodicals published in Russia is recorded. The article considers the audience features for a database of 3,509 channels in Telegram. The above-mentioned data groups are compared for illustrative material as follows: quantitative dynamics of Telegram channels and the dynamics of online media; Telegram audience engagement reach compared to Yandex Zen and VKontakte; the share of the engaged audience in Telegram and other media; Telegram audience reach compared to federal television and radio; the number of Telegram channels and online publications blocked in Russia, as well as the audience of these publications on their o cial websites and in Telegram. In addition, the main subjects of information channels in Telegram are considered from the point of view of audience interest trends. The logic of the coordination between Telegram channels and current Russian media is reproduced in the article by the means of regression analysis tools with the calculation of the correlation coe cient. A conclusion is made about the influence of Telegram development as a news platform on the decrease in attention to traditional media.