ViD (Alternative Russia)

ViD (stylized as ВИD) is the largest commercial television network in Russia. It was founded in 1987 during the twilight years of the Soviet Union, initially as a single station in Moscow, though in 1990, it started expanding across what was then the Russian SFSR, and eventually, the then-new Russian Federal Republic.

ViD is known for high-quality news programming, and is the third-largest commercial television network in the world, after the American ABC and Brazilian Globo. Its original ident, with a “creepy” mask of Guo Xiang, reportedly “gave Russian children nightmares” in the 1990s, and is said to have caused “angry phone calls” to the FCC when Russian programs were aired on PBS stations in the United States later in that decade; the current version is much less unsettling.

The acronym ViD has no meaning, and comes from the randomly-assigned callsign RVID-TV for their original station in Moscow (which may have been chosen as a reference to the English word “video”, and/or the Russian “televidenye” for television). ViD mainly sources its imported programs from the American NBC and FOX networks, as well as ITV in Britain. Original programming includes local versions of “Wheel of Fortune” and “Jeopardy!”, as well as several original series, mostly R-dramas and animatsiya.

Its main competitors are the 3 channels of public broadcaster RTV/РТВ (RTV1, RTV2, and RTV3), as well as other private broadcasters such as ATV, ТНТ, СТС, НТВ, and Ren TV. However, in many rural areas, RTV1 and ViD are the only channels available.

History
ViD was formed in 1987 as RVID-TV channel 4, a local station in Moscow. It was the first private station in the Soviet Union, due to the glasnost and perestroika processes that eventually transformed the Soviet Union into the Russian Federal Republic. The licensing for private stations was directly influenced by the FCC model in the United States, as well as the CRTC model in Canada (which has a major russophone population and Russian as one of its 3 official languages). It had a low budget (funded by the state, despite being a private channel) at first, and mainly aired foreign programs with cheap “voiceover” dubs. However, as the popularity of the station increased, the budget gradually increased as well, which led to higher-quality dubbing, as well as original programs starting to be produced.

In 1990, additional ViD owned-and-operated stations were established across the Russian SFSR (now the states of Muscovy, Caucasia, Siberia, and the Jewish Autonomous Republic). ViD was also allowed to use the American “affiliate” model, licensing ViD branding and programmes to privately-owned stations in smaller cities and rural areas. At the time, it was expected that each SSR would become its own independent country once the Soviet Union was reformed, so ViD was not allowed to expand outside the RSFSR; although stations in Soviet Overseas Territories were allowed, because these were expected to become part of a hypothetical “Russian Federation” rump state. However, these plans soon changed, since it was becoming apparent that only 5 SSRs (Ukraine, Moldova, Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania) actually wanted to leave the USSR, and on December 26, 1991, the modern Russian Federal Republic was formed. A week later, on January 2nd, 1992, several stations outside of the former RSFSR were inaugurated.

ViD’s parent company, Telekompaniya ViD, gradually expanded in the early-1990s by acquiring former Soviet state-owned film production companies, such as Mosfilm and Soyuzmultfilm, as well as buying obsolete broadcast equipment from American and British companies. Equipment had to be retrofitted for SECAM instead of NTSC or PAL systems, but by the end of the decade, ViD was the third-largest commercial television network in the world. ViD’s success is credited to its establishment of affiliate stations in smaller and less-populated areas, reaching 99% of Russia while competitors such as ATV, TNT, and STS are mainly focused on larger cities; as well as agreements with the American PBS to show English-dubbed “R-dramas” on shows such as Masterpiece Theater, increasing the reach of Russian culture in the post-Cold-War era.

ViD also owned Telefe in Argentina from 2002-2016, and MTV3 in Finland from 1999-2005. In both cases, the “mask of Guo Xiang” logo and identity of the Russian channel was reused.

Popular ViD programming includes Russian game shows (usually adaptations of popular US or UK formats), as well as Japanese tokusatsu.

Theme music

 * For news programs: “The Mission” by John Williams (licensed from NBC)
 * For sports programs: “Victory Road” by Edd Kalehoff (licensed from Turner Sports)
 * For local news on O&O stations: “The Tar Sequence” by Lalo Schifrin