Soviet Television and Radio - COLD WAR DOCUMENTARY
propaganda in the soviet union two things that just naturally go together like peanut butter and jelly or decaf coffee in the trash we've talked a little bit before in various episodes about soviet propaganda notably in the sphere of education but where domestic propaganda really flourished in the ussr was through mass media most notably radio and television as technology spread into people's homes in the post-war period and especially the post-stalin era the central authorities were given the ability to communicate their message directly into citizens homes i'm your host david and this week we are going to look at the evolution and use of soviet television and radio this is the cold war now i'm sure i'm not the only person who before sitting to watch some quality programming grabs a light snack to enjoy and if you like tasty snacks then you definitely need to subscribe to the sponsor of this video baksu boxu is a monthly snack box subscription service that delivers original assortments of premium japanese snacks and tea pairings right to your door every month you'll receive a box with a different theme the snacks will always be different so it becomes a new gourmet journey to japan every month this month's box kensai autumn celebrates the end of summer and the beauty of the changing leaves i can't recommend the kyoto matcha waffle sandwich enough the matcha balances the chocolate perfectly the box is shipped straight from japan and comes straight to you order now using the link in the description and use our code cold war 10 to get 10 percent off the subscription to authentic japanese snack box from baksu the power and ability that mass media held to influence and guide people was well recognized in the soviet union to quote an article soviet television and radio just like to other tools of mass information and propaganda have a significant influence on the public life of the country play an important role in the forming of the communist outlook of the workers in the propaganda of scientific and cultural achievements and benefits the process of realization of the program of establishment of a communist society actively participates in the conduct of large political campaigns covers the work of party congresses sessions of the supreme soviet of the ussr and most important international events and assists in the spread of knowledge and education along with the organization of the cultural pastime of the population this is full recognition that tv and radio were state tools to guide and create a unified soviet political and state consciousness but radio and television didn't just appear overnight in the ussr so where did it start how did it grow and importantly what were people listening to and watching so to start the story of television we need to go back to 1931 and mechanical televisions for anybody who doesn't know what a mechanical television is and i certainly included myself in that category before this episode you really should go read about them and watch a few demonstrations of how they work watch them after this episode though please anyway back to 1931 that's when small television programs began to be aired in 1932 a film of the soviet may first demonstrations and parades was demonstrated and it became the first tv program in the country to be shown with motion in it by 1933 the soviet union had begun producing the b2 a mechanical television with an oh so impressive 30 by 40 millimeter screen size by 1934 there were regular broadcasts that included audio being made for these mechanical televisions 1934 was also the year that the soviet government made the decision to expand and develop television as a communication medium it didn't take long after this for mechanical television to be deemed inadequate and by 1938 experimental broadcasts in leningrad and moscow were being made testing electronic televisions ones using vacuum tubes and much closer to what we know as televisions today these experiments helped to create the conditions for future mass television broadcasting and then the war happened like much of europe the ussr stopped television operations as it focused on survival and then victory the first post-war broadcast took place on may 7 1945 not coincidentally the day of the unconditional german surrender to the allies but that was an isolated broadcast regular broadcasting in the soviet union didn't resume until december 15 1945 with two broadcasts per week incidentally these broadcasts from the moscow television center were the first regular broadcasts to resume in europe the leningrad television center began their own regular broadcasts two years after moscow did by 1951 moscow television had been renamed the central television studio what would eventually go on to be called program one this renaming was done in order to prevent naming confusion as new local channels were being proposed and developed it took a further three years for more structure to be added with offices being created dedicated to propaganda industry agriculture science and sports this era from the late 1940s into the mid-1950s is widely regarded as the real beginning of mass consumption television in the soviet union but what were all these broadcasts being received on there certainly weren't 84-inch oled smart tvs far from them in fact between 1946 and 1949 there were leningrad t1 and muskovitch t1 televisions being produced the first to receive in a 625 line format what has become known as pal a standard found across much of the world not you america these t1 sets were limited in their numbers built however it wasn't until 1949 that a true mass production television was introduced the oh so reliable kvn-49 named after its inventors kennigsen varshovsky and nikolajevsky in true soviet fashion the abbreviation for the name was jokingly called the kupil bot turned on and no rabochit doesn't work despite this reputation millions of these sets were built and purchased across the soviet union with television sets in more and more homes this paved the way for increased development of television across the soviet union one that was swiftly becoming a phenomenon for the masses in 1951 television programming was available every day of the week in moscow coverage also expanded greatly across the soviet union including to carchive odessa riga tomsk uffa sebastopol berm and beyond as temporary television studios were established 1955 was a milestone year however as the central government adopted a decree which ordered the further development of television broadcasts which included the construction of new television centers and broadcast stations while there had only been three television centers in 1954 in moscow leningrad and kiev that number increased to 9 the next year 19 in 1956 and a whopping 84 by 1960. as a result of this growth most major cities in the soviet union had television access as television broadcasting became more widespread the education of relevant personnel became rather important in january of 1960 the central committee of the soviet union adopted a decree on the further development of soviet television by the decree television was placed at the same level of importance and received the same level of attention as newspaper and radio keep in mind that these were key methods for the government to disseminate propaganda to the people as part of the decree the development and diversification of programming was highlighted and the improvement of personnel involved in broadcasting and television journalism was made paramount in addition to emgahu that's moscow state university the most prestigious school in the soviet union by the way other universities in leningrad kiev tashkent amata svedlovsk dibilisi and other major centers had tv journalism programs founded the observant among you will note that the republics all had their own university programs this was to ensure that centralized messages could be imparted to local audiences in such a way as to be better received and adopted the 1960s also saw more broadcasting options presented with 1967 being a watershed year that was not only the year the orbital satellite was launched allowing programs to be broadcast from moscow to reach the entire country but it was also the year the iconic ostankino television tower and telecenter was completed this 541 meter tall tower still the tallest freestanding tower in europe allowed for the broadcasting of several new channels to the soviet union prior to the opening of the ostankino tower there was only one television station being broadcast from the shabalovka television studio osten kino took over broadcasting channel 1 while shavolovka assumed broadcast of channel 2. this remained the situation until the late brezhnev era when two more channels were introduced now we should also point out that the republics and the autonomous areas all had their own tv channels which were broadcast only into those areas okay so the ussr had television coverage what were people watching though well content was certainly controlled and had to pass through strict censorship controls to ensure that all programming was appropriate things that would not pass the censors included nudity coarse language and of course criticism of the soviet system or of the soviet government satirical programming like the uk's mock the week or canada's this hour has 22 minutes now sadly off the air would never have seen the light of day in the soviet union programming was designed certainly to entertain but also to convey messages and ideas not really any different than a lot of modern programming to be honest after all propaganda is defined as the dissemination of information facts arguments rumors half-truths or lies to influence public opinion this happens on both the left and the right in today's media people just need to want to look for it as for propaganda on soviet television some of it was overt some of it was less so but since shows had to meet government guidelines to be aired at the very least it was obvious whose propaganda was being presented now what was on the air was news and educational programming especially documentaries there were soviet films and tv series as well as many of the most iconic films from global cinema provided they could meet the standards set by the censors television also carried children's programming including the adorable chibo rashka and his friend gana as well as theater performances ballet performances and concerts and of course like television programming around the world there was sports this included the olympics even in 1984 as well as world cups in addition the most popular sports both nationally and internationally were regularly shown as well as matches from the soviet top league later the soviet higher league that's footballers soccer by the way and games from the soviet championship league that would be hockey okay so that's television now what about that other broadcast method the one that always seems to be there but nobody admits to listening to because they're too busy listening to the latest episode of the kings in general's podcast it's hosted by me by the way but anyways back to the subject at hand though i'm talking about radio soviet radio naturally has a longer history than soviet television as early as 1917 radio telegraph was being used to broadcast information about the most important events in the country which in 1917 were considerable as for regular radio broadcasts those began in 1924. the spread of radio in the soviet union was a much faster process given it's a much more straightforward technology with a much lower barrier to entry than television from both a broadcasting and receiving perspective even in the early years of soviet radio programming was quite diversified and included news reporting interviews children's and youth programs as well as concerts and of course sporting events by 1932 news programs became more standardized as central and regional soviet radio committees began to be established radio played a vital role through the 1930s pushing the stalinist message regarding the construction of the state economy and labor system and encouraging socialist competition to achieve higher industrial and agricultural outputs as well as patriotic education this messaging changed during the great patriotic war though serving as a key tool in moscow's fight against the fascist invaders helping to mobilize the people and lift the morale of the people there was even radio programming targeted specifically for partisans and for people living in occupied territories after the war radio continued to develop and diversify its content by 1977 there were eight radio stations being broadcast across the soviet union the first channel was focused on political information news and educational programs the second and fourth stations were dedicated to music programming while the third station focused on education literature and music the other four channels offered a mix of these programming themes and all of them were blended up with special propaganda programming directed towards soviet citizens and of course like with television the republics and the autonomous regions had local broadcasts of similar content but in native languages okay a couple of quick statistics regarding how many people had television and radio access by 1977 the soviet census showed a population of 257 million people 1975 statistics so not exactly matching but close enough to give a good idea showed that 60 million soviet citizens owned radio sets and 55 million had television sets when you then factor in more communal living a significant number of citizens had access to some sort of programming of course for those who are interested in comparative statistics television ownership in the united states in 1977 was estimated to be over 97 of households so as we've made several allusions to radio and television played crucial roles in the dissemination of propaganda to the soviet populace these along with newspapers formed the core mass media tools which almost all soviet citizens had access and exposure to on a daily basis when this was combined with an almost total lack of alternative media outlets it meant one thing every day soviet citizens would listen to carefully prepared and polished stories detailing the successes of the soviet state and how they compared to the inevitable fall of the rotten and imperialist west and the capitalist world as a whole with nothing to compare and contrast these stories with this propaganda had a strong reinforcing effect on the education provided to soviet citizens of course history has proven this was not enough to stifle or kill people's natural curiosity to discover to freely express themselves and to engage in debate hence the ongoing interest in the soviet union in things like radio liberty or in samisdat but we'll do more on that when we get to exploring things like the dissident movement you know if you want us to i assume you do now soviet television and radio is often popularly depicted as a negative and gloomy affair with men in ill-fitting suits blandly reading government statements about agricultural yields but in fact the quality of tv and radio journalism was actually quite high this played a major role in helping to offset what could in many regards be a rather dull daily life in the soviet union quality educational programs films concerts theater performances and sporting events all help to entertain the people as did that guy in the poorly tailored suit reading agricultural reports soviet television and radio while it did hold itself to a high standard obviously differed greatly from their counterparts in the west the high standards of living in the west meant far higher and much earlier market penetration for television than in the soviet union broadcasting in the west also had fewer ideological constraints which allowed for more pluralistic and political debates in the public sphere creating a broader audience as more people could find programming which appealed to them of course the most significant difference between soviet tv and radio programming and that of the west was its commercialization in the west programming content was and is dictated by the relationship between viewers and sponsors if programming is found to be unappealing or even offensive by viewers sponsors will not continue to advertise during that program thus forcing the content to change this full circle can even be preempted by sponsors choosing the content they want viewers to see by green lighting or red lighting content without the viewers having any input at all so the market chooses content rather than the government as would happen in the soviet union we hope you've enjoyed today's episode and to make sure you don't miss all of our future episodes please make sure you subscribe to our channel and have submitted your 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2021-10-03 19:18
