Television in the Soviet Union
 | The neutrality of this article is disputed. |
Television in the Soviet Union was controlled very tightly by the state, and programs were designed to reinforce typical Communist values such as proletarian unity and loyalty to the Communist Party.
Problems with transmitting television programming in the Soviet Union
Because of the Soviet Union's size, a few problems had to be overcome. The first was geography. The European area of the Soviet Union was typical East European. Then there were the mountains such as the Urals. There were also the taiga and steppes of the east and the north. Another problem was time. The Soviet Union encompassed a number of different time zones, and thus what would be shown at 6:00 pm in Moscow would be different from 6:00 pm in Frunze, Kirghiz SSR (now Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan). The population too was unevenly spread out - theoretically there would be more people in the European areas of the Soviet Union then there would be in the Asian areas of the Soviet Union because the European areas had a warmer, more mild climate than the cold areas of Siberia and the deserts in Central Asia. In addition, the Soviet Union also relayed their programming to other Warsaw Pact states.
Television Services in the Soviet Union
As a result, the Soviet television system, while similar to the Soviet radio system, was a combination of ingenunity to overcome the problems mentioned in the prior section as well as transmitting programming to the Communist world.
NB: Most of the information below is from the 1990 edition of the WRTH (World Radio and Television Handbook).
Soviet television standard
The Soviet television standard used SECAM D (VHF) and K (UHF). The Soviet Union also used the OIRT VHF band (the "R" channels ranging from chs. R1 to R12) and the pan-European/African UHF band.
Soviet television channels
Generally there were four channels (called "programmes" in the typical European fashion then). The first channel (1st Programme) was the main channel. It was also the most adaptable for the republics to utilize (see "Regional television services" below). Other channels were the All Union Programme (the second channel), the Moscow Programme (the third channel aimed mostly at Moscow), and the Fourth Programme (the fourth channel).
Regional television services
In addition to the national television channels, each SSR and ASSR had its own state radio and television company or state broadcasting committees, although other regions were allowed regional state radio and television companies/state broadcasting committees. Taking the Chechen-Ingush ASSR as an example, like other areas of the Soviet Union the four national television channels would be broadcast by either a Television and Radio Company of the Chechen-Ingush Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic or by a State Committee on Radio and Television Broadcasting. However, there would be a difference in that in the First Programme, the Company/Committee was allowed to broadcast regional programming alongside the official First Programme schedule. Depending on the political status of an administrative division, the Company/Committee would either broadcast the regional programming in either Russian or the local language. In the Chechen-Ingush ASSR's case, this would mean that the regional programmes would either be in Russian, Chechen, or Inguesh. The Company/Committee would also broadcast additional channels for their coverage area only.
Soviet satellite services
Alongside Canada's ANIK satellite system and the US's satellite system, the Soviet Union could boast having the largest domestic satellite system in the world. Part of the ingenuity lies in the programming itself. The Soviet Union was a master in time-shifting programmes so that everyone in the Soviet Union could enjoy television programming. This involved several solutions to the Soviet Union's geography and time zone problems:
- Schedule. The national television channels were only on the air for part of the day. This would make it easy for transmitting the channels throughout the Union. For instance, the Fourth Programme aired from 1300-1740 GMT. This would make it easy for the Fourth Programme to be aired by satellite.
- Time-shifting. This is the heart of the programming aspect of the Soviet television system. By time-shifting programmes, this allowed the Soviet Union and countries that relayed Soviet television (such as Warsaw Pact states). There were two types of Soviet time-shifting
- time-shifting based on a similar radio programme, and "Double" programs, which was compostite time-shifting for the different time zones. Only the First Programme was time-shifted based on the pattern of a similar radio programme (in the First Programme's case the pattern was based on the All-Union First Programme from Soviet radio (TV Orbita-1 (UTC +11, +12, and +13 time zones), TV Orbita-2 (UTC +9 and +10 time zones), TV Orbita-3 (UTC +7 and +8 time zones), TV Orbita-4 (UTC +5 and +6 time zones), and the First Programme (UTC +2, +3, and +4 time zones)). All other national television channels (the All-Union, Moscow, and Fourth Programmes) used the "Double program" composite time-shifting format.
The Soviet domestic satellite system was also known as Orbita - in 1990 there were 90 Orbita satellites, supplying programming to 900 main transmitters and over 4,000 relay stations. The most famous Soviet satellites were the Molniya satellites; other satellite groups were the Gorziont, Ekran, and Stasionar satellites. With the right equipment, people outside the Soviet Union who used TVRO satellite television could receive Soviet television programming.
Programming
Soap operas and TV series of original cast were rare until the last decade; a notable example is Seventeen Moments of Spring, which quickly became a cult film, about Stirlitz, a Soviet superspy in Nazi Germany, who inspired many jokes (see Russian humour). However in the later years quite a few of soap operas were bought in the West: in the United States, Brazil, etc., and a number of detective series were cast locally.
News
The Soviet Union's television news was provided almost entirely by the Telegraph Agency of the Soviet Union, commonly known as TASS.
TASS still exists today, transformed into the Information Telegraph Agency of Russia (ITAR-TASS). It occupies a Stalin-era building in Moscow, characterised by a bas-relief sculpture above the main entrance. However, much like its counterparts in cinema and the press, it has suffered since the collapse of Communism.