Kiosk sales dropped away as consumers reacted to the general rise in prices. Television companies have also been hit. Moscow companies have been worst affected, with ORT's troubles well publicised. Regional companies have lower overheads, but will be in crisis as long as the advertising market remains in the doldrums. Radio has come out of the situation best of all.
Overheads are low and, unlike the press, the product is available free to consumers.
Advertising did almost completely disappear during August and September, but was already beginning to recover by mid October. However, advertisers are being selective, placing spots only with the strongest formats. The manager of one franchise that rebroadcasts both Russkoe Radio and Radio 101 noted in November 1998 that figures were recovering well for the former, but there was little interest in advertising on 101, with its narrower appeal. Russia is full of surprises, and while it might be logical to suppose that only the strongest stations in terms of programming, financial discipline and management will survive, and that the financial crisis will result in the closure of many local independents with sloppy formats and management, there may be little overall effect on numbers. There are also quite a few stations whose financial backers are involved for reasons not connected with commercial gain.