Analysis of foreign experience and main directions of popularization of scientific and technical activities on television in Russia

At present, owing to the development of knowledge and innovation economy, the popularization of science and the results of scientiic and technical activities is becoming more important in society. Due to the close cooperation of science, government and society in developed countries, the popularization of science and scientiic activity is at a higher level of development than in Russia. The most efective tool for promoting the results of scientiic and technical activities in society is television. The authors analyze domestic and foreign experience in the ield of popularizing scientiic and technical activities on television. The article presents a brief historical overview of the development of popular science television in Russia, as well as the main Russian projects for popularizing scientiic and technical activities. In addition, the most popular educational TV-channels and programs of the USA and UK were studied. The purpose of this study is to identify barriers to the development of popularization of scientiic and technical activities in Russia. The study shows that, despite the currently used mechanisms aimed at the development of popular science genre on television, it is too early to speak about its revival and blossom. One of the main reasons for this situation is the decreasing prestige of Russian science. The result of the research is the determination of the main directions for the revival and development of popular science genre in Russia taking into account the positive experience of foreign countries. The proposals of the authors will contribute to increasing availability of popular science programs and TV channels, attracting more interested people to the world of science and technology, and thus, to the growth of the prestige of science.