MOSCOW The State Duma, the Lower House of the Russian Parliament, approved a bill on Friday barring foreigners from buying stakes in nationwide television channels.

Duma nationalists initiated the bill earlier this year after Russian gas giant Gazprom outlined plans to find a foreign investor for the nationwide channel NTV, which it had seized because media magnate Vladimir Gusinsky was in debt to Gazprom, Reuters reported.

The nationalists initially sought limits on foreign participation in all Russian print and broadcast media. But pro-government and liberal parties, supported by the Kremlin, blocked the drive.

The version of the bill overwhelmingly approved on Friday covers only television channels whose audience comprises more than half of Russia's 147 million population.

At the moment, none of the four nationwide channels -- RTR state-run television, ORT public television, NTV and the private TV6 channel owned by self-exiled businessman Boris Berezovsky -- has any major foreign stake-holders.