Vremya
Encyclopedia
Vremya is the state television newscast of the Russian Federation and is shown on Channel One Russia (Russian: Первый канал, Pervy kanal) and previously on the First Programme of the Central Television of the USSR
(CT USSR, Russian
:Центральное телевидение СССР, ЦТ СССР). The program has been on the air since January 1, 1968 (there were no broadcasts from August 1991 to December 1994).
bias and typically didn't report on news that could potentially fuel anti-government sentiment. The programme presented reports that promoted socialism
and portrayed the West
in a negative manner. The newsroom was tied to the Politburo of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union's Central Committee
. This situation changed after Glasnost
, when a director of news was introduced alongside the news being sourced from official outlets
. This made CT USSR report accurately on the collapse of the Soviet Union's satellite communist countries
in Eastern Europe in 1989. This also made Vremya to be shown uncensored and critical, triggering the protests that hastened the end of the Soviet Union
.
+11, +9, +7, +5 and +3, as the programmme is recorded live five times due to Russia's large size and variety of time zones). During the Soviet era, the programme was also carried simultaneously on the primary channel of each republican station (Channel 1 of the Kiev Telecentre
, LTV1
, Kazakhstan-1, etc.) The broadcast
lasts 30 minutes, but in special circumstances (more especially during the Soviet era), the broadcast is extended beyond the 30 minutes allotted when necessary (such as the Red Square
state ceremonies and parades, CPSU Party Congress
telecasts together with other CPSU-led activities, plenary sessions of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR, and deaths of Soviet leaders Leonid Brezhnev
, Yuri Andropov
and Konstantin Chernenko
). Even highlights of the celebrations of the Union-wide holidays were also broadcast.
Starting in the mid-1970s, another 30-minute edition was presented on the All-Union Programme (launched in 1956) around 11:00pm.(This was in the form of a live simulcast of Vremya in the next Orbita transmission zone, occasionally a repeat of the 9:00pm programme, especially in the European USSR.) Prior to that, both channels aired Vremya simultaneously at 9:00pm, then repeated the next morning when the First Programme signed on around 7:30am (later 6:30am) after the exercise programme, before airing children's programming and schools and colleges programmes, all produced together with the USSR Ministry of Education and were also seen on Programme 4. Later, a live morning edition was shown at 6:30am, before the breakfast programme 120 minut (which continues today on Channel One Russia as Dobroye Utro, Russian
:Доброе утро).
News summaries were added as the transmissions increased during the day. There was a bulletin at the end of the morning and midday programmes (i.e around 1:00pm) and another at 6:30pm on the first channel. From 1989, the latter bulletin began to use the two presenter format of Vremya, as well as the Vremya moniker, and its corresponding studio and graphics (including the title sequence), looking as it was the program's first edition (the 6:30 am program was the morning news edition while the one at 1PM was the midday update), with the 9:00 pm telecast as the second edition and the one at 11:00 pm as the third or late edition or the late night replay. The All-Union Programme's daytime schedule always began with the news at around 15:00. Midnight newscasts didn't appear until the 1980s, when the First Programme screened a headline update preceding the closedown sequence, usually after midnight. All of these bulletins were known as Novosti (Russian
:Новости, "The News"). From 1989, the 15:00 news round-up on the All-Union Programme and the midnight news round-up on the First Programme were known as TSN: Television News Service (Russian
:TCH:Телевизионная служба новостей, TSN:Televizionnaya sluzhba novostey). Today the news on Channel One Russia follows a similar schedule to this one, with Vremya, TSN and the all-Russian and regional news updates.
The majority of Russians rely on Vremya as a trusted news source.
From 1986 until the present, Vremya has used the theme song from Time, Forward!
as its signature tune and opening sequence.
in the late 1980s, Vremya loosened its fidelity to the party line and began presenting fair reports about the events transforming Eastern Europe at the time. On August 19, 1991, it showed pictures of the impending coup d'etat in Moscow.
:ТВ Информ). The closure was due to pressure from Russian President Boris Yeltsin
claiming that the programme was "too tied to the CPSU
". When the USSR dissolved in December that year, the programme changed broadcasters from Soviet Central Television to the new Ostankino Television 1 and 4. It stayed even until after the network's name change to ORT-1 (Public Russian Television-1, Russian
: Общественное Российское Телевидение, Obshchestvennoe Rossiyskoy Televidenie) in November 1994, and Ostankino 4's reformatting into NTV that same year.
The programme was revived on December 14, 1994 on ORT 1 in time to report on the looming conflict in Chechenya
. The format was then changed to that of a single-presenter one, but the dual-presenter one was kept for special editions of the program, and was even incorporated into the newscast's 1995-96 opening sequence.
: Семь дней, Sem' d'nei), since 2003 known as Sunday Vremya (Russian
:Воскресное Время,
Voskresnoe Vremja, Sunday Time). This programme also airs a roundup of the week's news. Until its launch, Vremya was shown as per Monday-Saturday.
,
Soviet Central Television
The Central Television of the USSR , was the state television broadcaster in the Soviet Union....
(CT USSR, Russian
Russian language
Russian is a Slavic language used primarily in Russia, Belarus, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan. It is an unofficial but widely spoken language in Ukraine, Moldova, Latvia, Turkmenistan and Estonia and, to a lesser extent, the other countries that were once constituent republics...
:Центральное телевидение СССР, ЦТ СССР). The program has been on the air since January 1, 1968 (there were no broadcasts from August 1991 to December 1994).
Editorial line
In the Soviet days of Vremya, the programme had a pro-governmentGovernment of the Soviet Union
The Council of Ministers of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was the de jure government comprising the highest executive and administrative body of the Soviet Union from 1946 until 1991....
bias and typically didn't report on news that could potentially fuel anti-government sentiment. The programme presented reports that promoted socialism
Socialism
Socialism is an economic system characterized by social ownership of the means of production and cooperative management of the economy; or a political philosophy advocating such a system. "Social ownership" may refer to any one of, or a combination of, the following: cooperative enterprises,...
and portrayed the West
Western world
The Western world, also known as the West and the Occident , is a term referring to the countries of Western Europe , the countries of the Americas, as well all countries of Northern and Central Europe, Australia and New Zealand...
in a negative manner. The newsroom was tied to the Politburo of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union's Central Committee
Politburo of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union
The Politburo , known as the Presidium from 1952 to 1966, functioned as the central policymaking and governing body of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union.-Duties and responsibilities:The...
. This situation changed after Glasnost
Glasnost
Glasnost was the policy of maximal publicity, openness, and transparency in the activities of all government institutions in the Soviet Union, together with freedom of information, introduced by Mikhail Gorbachev in the second half of the 1980s...
, when a director of news was introduced alongside the news being sourced from official outlets
Telegraph Agency of the Soviet Union
The Telegraph Agency of the Soviet Union , was the central agency for collection and distribution of internal and international news for all Soviet newspapers, radio and television stations...
. This made CT USSR report accurately on the collapse of the Soviet Union's satellite communist countries
Revolutions of 1989
The Revolutions of 1989 were the revolutions which overthrew the communist regimes in various Central and Eastern European countries.The events began in Poland in 1989, and continued in Hungary, East Germany, Bulgaria, Czechoslovakia and...
in Eastern Europe in 1989. This also made Vremya to be shown uncensored and critical, triggering the protests that hastened the end of the Soviet Union
Dissolution of the Soviet Union
The dissolution of the Soviet Union was the disintegration of the federal political structures and central government of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , resulting in the independence of all fifteen republics of the Soviet Union between March 11, 1990 and December 25, 1991...
.
Schedule and popularity
Vremyas main edition is scheduled, since its inception, at 21:00 (GMTGreenwich Mean Time
Greenwich Mean Time is a term originally referring to mean solar time at the Royal Observatory in Greenwich, London. It is arguably the same as Coordinated Universal Time and when this is viewed as a time zone the name Greenwich Mean Time is especially used by bodies connected with the United...
+11, +9, +7, +5 and +3, as the programmme is recorded live five times due to Russia's large size and variety of time zones). During the Soviet era, the programme was also carried simultaneously on the primary channel of each republican station (Channel 1 of the Kiev Telecentre
National Television Company of Ukraine
National Television Company of Ukraine is the national television broadcaster in Ukraine. It is state-run, and operates the television channel Pershyi Nazional'niy, the only Ukrainian TV channel that has a coverage over 97% of Ukraine's territory. It is the only state-owned national channel. Its...
, LTV1
Latvijas Televizija
Latvijas Televīzija is the state-owned public service broadcasting television company in Latvia.The company is funded by grant-in-aid from the Latvian government , and gaining the rest from showing television commercials . Although moving LTV to licence fee funding has long been debated, this has...
, Kazakhstan-1, etc.) The broadcast
Broadcasting
Broadcasting is the distribution of audio and video content to a dispersed audience via any audio visual medium. Receiving parties may include the general public or a relatively large subset of thereof...
lasts 30 minutes, but in special circumstances (more especially during the Soviet era), the broadcast is extended beyond the 30 minutes allotted when necessary (such as the Red Square
Red Square
Red Square is a city square in Moscow, Russia. The square separates the Kremlin, the former royal citadel and currently the official residence of the President of Russia, from a historic merchant quarter known as Kitai-gorod...
state ceremonies and parades, CPSU Party Congress
Congress of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union
The Congress of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union was the gathering of the delegates of the Communist Party and its predecessors. According the party statute, it was the supreme ruling body of the entire Communist Party....
telecasts together with other CPSU-led activities, plenary sessions of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR, and deaths of Soviet leaders Leonid Brezhnev
Leonid Brezhnev
Leonid Ilyich Brezhnev – 10 November 1982) was the General Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union , presiding over the country from 1964 until his death in 1982. His eighteen-year term as General Secretary was second only to that of Joseph Stalin in...
, Yuri Andropov
Yuri Andropov
Yuri Vladimirovich Andropov was a Soviet politician and the General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union from 12 November 1982 until his death fifteen months later.-Early life:...
and Konstantin Chernenko
Konstantin Chernenko
Konstantin Ustinovich Chernenko was a Soviet politician and the fifth General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union. He led the Soviet Union from 13 February 1984 until his death thirteen months later, on 10 March 1985...
). Even highlights of the celebrations of the Union-wide holidays were also broadcast.
Starting in the mid-1970s, another 30-minute edition was presented on the All-Union Programme (launched in 1956) around 11:00pm.(This was in the form of a live simulcast of Vremya in the next Orbita transmission zone, occasionally a repeat of the 9:00pm programme, especially in the European USSR.) Prior to that, both channels aired Vremya simultaneously at 9:00pm, then repeated the next morning when the First Programme signed on around 7:30am (later 6:30am) after the exercise programme, before airing children's programming and schools and colleges programmes, all produced together with the USSR Ministry of Education and were also seen on Programme 4. Later, a live morning edition was shown at 6:30am, before the breakfast programme 120 minut (which continues today on Channel One Russia as Dobroye Utro, Russian
Russian language
Russian is a Slavic language used primarily in Russia, Belarus, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan. It is an unofficial but widely spoken language in Ukraine, Moldova, Latvia, Turkmenistan and Estonia and, to a lesser extent, the other countries that were once constituent republics...
:Доброе утро).
News summaries were added as the transmissions increased during the day. There was a bulletin at the end of the morning and midday programmes (i.e around 1:00pm) and another at 6:30pm on the first channel. From 1989, the latter bulletin began to use the two presenter format of Vremya, as well as the Vremya moniker, and its corresponding studio and graphics (including the title sequence), looking as it was the program's first edition (the 6:30 am program was the morning news edition while the one at 1PM was the midday update), with the 9:00 pm telecast as the second edition and the one at 11:00 pm as the third or late edition or the late night replay. The All-Union Programme's daytime schedule always began with the news at around 15:00. Midnight newscasts didn't appear until the 1980s, when the First Programme screened a headline update preceding the closedown sequence, usually after midnight. All of these bulletins were known as Novosti (Russian
Russian language
Russian is a Slavic language used primarily in Russia, Belarus, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan. It is an unofficial but widely spoken language in Ukraine, Moldova, Latvia, Turkmenistan and Estonia and, to a lesser extent, the other countries that were once constituent republics...
:Новости, "The News"). From 1989, the 15:00 news round-up on the All-Union Programme and the midnight news round-up on the First Programme were known as TSN: Television News Service (Russian
Russian language
Russian is a Slavic language used primarily in Russia, Belarus, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan. It is an unofficial but widely spoken language in Ukraine, Moldova, Latvia, Turkmenistan and Estonia and, to a lesser extent, the other countries that were once constituent republics...
:TCH:Телевизионная служба новостей, TSN:Televizionnaya sluzhba novostey). Today the news on Channel One Russia follows a similar schedule to this one, with Vremya, TSN and the all-Russian and regional news updates.
The majority of Russians rely on Vremya as a trusted news source.
From 1986 until the present, Vremya has used the theme song from Time, Forward!
Time, Forward!
Time, Forward! is a 1965 Soviet drama film directed by Sofiya Milkina and Mikhail Shveytser based on a novel with the same name and a screenplay by Valentin Katayev. Composer Georgy Sviridov, sound by Lev Trakhtenberg. Production by Mosfilm by the order of Goskino.The title is derived from...
as its signature tune and opening sequence.
Coverage during the last days of the USSR
After the introduction of the GlasnostGlasnost
Glasnost was the policy of maximal publicity, openness, and transparency in the activities of all government institutions in the Soviet Union, together with freedom of information, introduced by Mikhail Gorbachev in the second half of the 1980s...
in the late 1980s, Vremya loosened its fidelity to the party line and began presenting fair reports about the events transforming Eastern Europe at the time. On August 19, 1991, it showed pictures of the impending coup d'etat in Moscow.
Transition
The last Soviet-era Vremya newscast was broadcast on August 1991. The following day, the newscast was renamed TV-Inform(RussianRussian language
Russian is a Slavic language used primarily in Russia, Belarus, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan. It is an unofficial but widely spoken language in Ukraine, Moldova, Latvia, Turkmenistan and Estonia and, to a lesser extent, the other countries that were once constituent republics...
:ТВ Информ). The closure was due to pressure from Russian President Boris Yeltsin
Boris Yeltsin
Boris Nikolayevich Yeltsin was the first President of the Russian Federation, serving from 1991 to 1999.Originally a supporter of Mikhail Gorbachev, Yeltsin emerged under the perestroika reforms as one of Gorbachev's most powerful political opponents. On 29 May 1990 he was elected the chairman of...
claiming that the programme was "too tied to the CPSU
Communist Party of the Soviet Union
The Communist Party of the Soviet Union was the only legal, ruling political party in the Soviet Union and one of the largest communist organizations in the world...
". When the USSR dissolved in December that year, the programme changed broadcasters from Soviet Central Television to the new Ostankino Television 1 and 4. It stayed even until after the network's name change to ORT-1 (Public Russian Television-1, Russian
Russian language
Russian is a Slavic language used primarily in Russia, Belarus, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan. It is an unofficial but widely spoken language in Ukraine, Moldova, Latvia, Turkmenistan and Estonia and, to a lesser extent, the other countries that were once constituent republics...
: Общественное Российское Телевидение, Obshchestvennoe Rossiyskoy Televidenie) in November 1994, and Ostankino 4's reformatting into NTV that same year.
The programme was revived on December 14, 1994 on ORT 1 in time to report on the looming conflict in Chechenya
First Chechen War
The First Chechen War, also known as the War in Chechnya, was a conflict between the Russian Federation and the Chechen Republic of Ichkeria, fought from December 1994 to August 1996...
. The format was then changed to that of a single-presenter one, but the dual-presenter one was kept for special editions of the program, and was even incorporated into the newscast's 1995-96 opening sequence.
Sunday Vremya
On Sundays since the late 1980s, the programme also has a separate Sunday edition, initially called 7 Days (RussianRussian language
Russian is a Slavic language used primarily in Russia, Belarus, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan. It is an unofficial but widely spoken language in Ukraine, Moldova, Latvia, Turkmenistan and Estonia and, to a lesser extent, the other countries that were once constituent republics...
: Семь дней, Sem' d'nei), since 2003 known as Sunday Vremya (Russian
Russian language
Russian is a Slavic language used primarily in Russia, Belarus, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan. It is an unofficial but widely spoken language in Ukraine, Moldova, Latvia, Turkmenistan and Estonia and, to a lesser extent, the other countries that were once constituent republics...
:Воскресное Время,
Voskresnoe Vremja, Sunday Time). This programme also airs a roundup of the week's news. Until its launch, Vremya was shown as per Monday-Saturday.
Soviet-era edition
- Vera Shebeko
- Igor Kirilov - chief presenter until the 1980s, reporting on major events such as the Red Square ceremonies and overseas visits of the Soviet leader
- Maya Sidrova
- Evgeny Suslov
- Gennardy Chetrov
- Eugene Kochergin
- Inna Ermilova
- Elena Kovaleenko
- Anna Shatilova
- Yuri Kovelenov
- Victor Balashov
- Aza Lihitchenko
- Galina Zimenkova
- Nonna Bedrov
- Sergey Medvedev
Russian Federation-era edition
- Igor Vykhukholev
- Andrew Baturin
- Peter Marchenko
- Ekaterina Andreyeva
- Vitaly Eliseyev
- Dmitry Borisov
- Peter Tolstoy
Similar newscasts in other socialist countries
- Aktuelle KameraAktuelle KameraAktuelle Kamera was the state television newscast of the former German Democratic Republic . On air from December 21, 1952 to December 14, 1990, Aktuelle Kamera was one of the main propaganda tools of the East German government.- Editorial line :In the very early days of East German television...
- Fernsehen der DDRDeutscher FernsehfunkDeutscher Fernsehfunk , known from 1972 to 1990 as Fernsehen der DDR , was the state television broadcaster in East Germany.-Foundation:...
– East Germany - Dziennik Telewizyjny - TVPTelewizja PolskaTelewizja Polska Spółka Akcyjna is Poland's public broadcasting corporation...
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- RomaniaRomaniaRomania is a country located at the crossroads of Central and Southeastern Europe, on the Lower Danube, within and outside the Carpathian arch, bordering on the Black Sea... - Panorama (Панорама) – BNTBulgarian National TelevisionThe Bulgarian National Television or BNT is the public broadcaster of Bulgaria. The company was founded in 1959 and began broadcasting on December 26 of the same year. It began broadcasting in color in 1970...
- BulgariaBulgariaBulgaria , officially the Republic of Bulgaria , is a parliamentary democracy within a unitary constitutional republic in Southeast Europe. The country borders Romania to the north, Serbia and Macedonia to the west, Greece and Turkey to the south, as well as the Black Sea to the east... - Xinwen LianboXinwen LianboXinwen Lianbo is a daily news programme produced by China Central Television . It is shown simultaneously by most terrestrial television channels in mainland China, making it one of the world's most watched television programmes...
(新闻联播) – CCTVChina Central TelevisionChina Central Television or Chinese Central Television, commonly abbreviated as CCTV, is the major state television broadcaster in mainland China. CCTV has a network of 19 channels broadcasting different programmes and is accessible to more than one billion viewers...
- People's Republic of ChinaPeople's Republic of ChinaChina , officially the People's Republic of China , is the most populous country in the world, with over 1.3 billion citizens. Located in East Asia, the country covers approximately 9.6 million square kilometres... - Houdou - Korean Central TelevisionKorean Central TelevisionKorean Central Television is a state news broadcaster in North Korea, located in the capital city, Pyongyang. KCTV is the only official source of television news for North Koreans. The reach of the programming is limited, as there are only around 1.2 million television sets in the country of over...
– North KoreaNorth KoreaThe Democratic People’s Republic of Korea , , is a country in East Asia, occupying the northern half of the Korean Peninsula. Its capital and largest city is Pyongyang. The Korean Demilitarized Zone serves as the buffer zone between North Korea and South Korea... - Vremya (Вре́мя) - ЦТ СССРSoviet Central TelevisionThe Central Television of the USSR , was the state television broadcaster in the Soviet Union....
- Soviet UnionSoviet UnionThe Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991.... - Noticiero Nacional de la Televisión Cubana - Cubavision - CubaCubaThe Republic of Cuba is an island nation in the Caribbean. The nation of Cuba consists of the main island of Cuba, the Isla de la Juventud, and several archipelagos. Havana is the largest city in Cuba and the country's capital. Santiago de Cuba is the second largest city...
External links
- Time, Forward!Time, Forward!Time, Forward! is a 1965 Soviet drama film directed by Sofiya Milkina and Mikhail Shveytser based on a novel with the same name and a screenplay by Valentin Katayev. Composer Georgy Sviridov, sound by Lev Trakhtenberg. Production by Mosfilm by the order of Goskino.The title is derived from...
(Vremya, vpered!), the famous theme tune by Georgy SviridovGeorgy SviridovGeorgy Vasilyevich Sviridov was a Soviet Russian neoromantic composer....
,