Television in the Soviet Union

Television in the Soviet Union was owned by the state and was under its tight control and censorship.

The governing body in the former Soviet Union comprised the USSR State Committee for Television and Radio Broadcasting (Государственный комитет по телевидению и радиовещанию СССР) or USSR Gosteleradio (Гостелерадио СССР), which was in charge both of Soviet Central Television and USSR Gostelradio.

Soviet TV production was classified into central (USSR Gostelradio and Soviet Central Television (TsT SSSR, Russian: Центральное телевидение Гостелерадио СССР, ЦТ СССР)), republican, and regional broadcasting.

Regular TV broadcasting in the Soviet Union started first in Moscow and Saint Petersburg in 1938.

Initially TV was governed by the All-Union Committee for Radiofication and Radio Broadcasting at the USSR Sovnarkom (Всесоюзный комитет по радиофикации и радиовещанию при СНК СССР).

Because of the Soviet Union's size, many problems arose which had to be overcome. Geography is the primary issue. The European area of the Soviet Union was localised in Eastern Europe. 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 eleven different time zones, and thus what would be shown at 18:00 in Moscow would be shown at 21:00 in Frunze, Kirghizia. The population too was unevenly spread out - there were more people in the European areas of the country than there would be in the eastern Asian areas of the Soviet Union. In addition, the Soviet Union also relayed their programming to other Warsaw Pact states.

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