|
Soviet Union [USSR] Television and Video Cassette Recorders
In the 1970s and 1980s, television become the preeminent mass
medium. In 1988 approximately 75 million households owned
television sets, and an estimated 93 percent of the population
watched television. Moscow, the base from which most of the
television stations broadcast, transmitted some 90 percent of the
country's programs, with the help of more than 350 stations and
nearly 1,400 relay facilities. Moscow projected some fifty hours of
news, commentaries, education, and entertainment every day from its
four channels. About 20 percent of this programming consisted of
news, the main program being "Vremia" (Time), a thirty-five- to
forty-five-minute news program beginning at 9:00 P.M Moscow time.
Between 80 and 90 percent of all families who owned televisions
followed "Vremia" broadcasts. Normally, about two-thirds of
reporting on each telecast consisted of domestic affairs, usually
stories concentrating on the government, the economy, and important
regional events. International news filled just under one-third of
the format; three to four minutes were devoted to sports and two
minutes to weather. Another news program, "Vokrug sveta" (Today in
the World), which featured foreign affairs reports and short but
in-depth news analyses, attracted from 60 to 90 million viewers
every evening, particularly because it was broadcast both in the
early evening and in the late evening.
Countless "firsts" were achieved on Soviet television,
beginning under Andropov and continuing with Gorbachev. During
Andropov's rule, coverage was given to the downing of the South
Korean airliner that strayed over Soviet territory in 1983,
including a live broadcast featuring several high-level political
and military leaders who answered questions from reporters without
prior submission. With Gorbachev's accession, many live programs
were broadcast via satellite television bridges (satellite
electronic links) between the Soviet Union and the United States;
footage and commentary were shown on the war in Afghanistan; the
Chernobyl' nuclear reactor accident was explored in-depth; the
Armenian earthquake was covered; and live interviews, speeches, and
debates involving Gorbachev and other Politburo members were
broadcast.
Almost every television program tried to include an ideological
theme. Televised propaganda bombarded viewers in many forms; themes
on the benefits of the economy were especially prevalent. Economic
series, such as "Construction Sites of the Twelfth Five-Year Plan,"
"Winner in Socialist Emulation," and "How to Put Your Heart into
Your Work," exhorted viewers to help to improve the economy.
Patriotic films portrayed Soviet victories during World War II, and
spy movies depicted the efforts of the country's security services
to protect it from "imperialist threat." Other programs featured
lectures ranging from high school class instruction to party
virtues, nonviolent children's cartoons, some game shows
highlighting proper social values, and sports competitions. In an
effort to create a larger viewer constituency, Gorbachev took
advantage of television's popular appeal by being the first leader
to use it to reach the population with his speeches and public
relations campaigns.
With television, in contrast to radio, where the authorities
had a difficult time controlling foreign broadcasts, censors could
exercise greater control. Yet, with the dramatic increase in VCRs,
unauthorized tapes circulated around the major ports and cities.
This circulation complicated the regime's attempts to control the
information revolution. In fact, Western specialists estimated that
Soviet households contained approximately 300,000 VCRs. The problem
of control became more acute in the mid-1980s as the policy of
glasnost' (see Glossary) led the younger generation to yearn
for more information.
Data as of May 1989
|
