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 Russian game shows (usually adaptations of popular US or UK formats, such as “Wheel of Fortune” and “Jeopardy!”), as well as several original series, mostly R-dramas and animatsiya. Other popular ViD programming includes Japanese tokusatsu, which gained unexpected popularity in Russia during the early post-Soviet years.

Its main competitors are the 3 channels of public broadcaster Russia Television/RT (RT1, RT2, and RT3), as well as other private broadcasters such as ATV, ТНТ, СТС, НТВ, and Ren TV. However, in many rural areas, RT1 and ViD are the only channels available.

ViD also runs several digital subchannels, as well as the international cable channel Rossiya Kanal (roughly translates as “The Russian Channel”). Its slogan is “Самая надежная телекомпания России”, which translates as “Russia’s Most Trusted Network”.

History
ViD was formed in 1987 as RVID-TV channel 4, a local station in Moscow, owned by Andrei Romanov and his associates. 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.

All ViD stations transitioned to digital on June 12, 2018 at midnight, depending on the timezone. Before the final sign-off, all stations aired the Russian anthem video (1992 synthesized instrumental version; despite the RFR retaining the Soviet-era anthem, no new lyrics were composed until 1999, as one of Yeltsin’s last acts before the 2000 elections), then a montage of memorable ViD moments from 1987 to 2018, including the network's launch as a local station in Moscow, and coverage of major events such as the creation of the modern Russian Federal Republic, the 9/11 attacks, the impeachment of Vladimir Putin, the fall of the People’s Republic of China, the Ukrainian Civil War, and the rise of ISIS, as well as iconic shows such as KHL hockey coverage, the Hot Summer Nights concerts, R-dramas, game shows, Japanese tokusatsu, and animatsiya. The montage was set to "Great Moments" by Gregor F. Narholz, and ended with the station's own network ID (varied between stations, and in all cases was the original ID they had either when they first began broadcasting, or became a ViD affiliate), with network founder Andrei Romanov (in one of his last appearances before his death in July that year) giving the final farewell.

Signoff film
ViD still signs on each morning, and signs off each night. From 1987 to mid-1992, the Russian/Soviet anthem was simply played over a static version of the ViD ident.

The most familiar signoff video, used from 1992 to 2005, was a Moog Synthesizer version of the Russian/USSR anthem, accompanied with photographs of familiar scenes from Russian history. It is believed to have been influenced by American TV signoffs from the 1970s-1980s.

In 2005, it was replaced with an orchestral version, accompanied with footage of areas around Russia. This was also used to sign on as well. This video has been updated multiple times, but the concept has remained the same. In 2011, the 1999-present lyrics were finally added (the 2005 version was instrumental), and a CGI animation of the states (represented by flag maps) forming the Russian Federal Republic was added.

For the analogue shutdown in 2018, the 1990s “Moog Anthem” signoff video was used.

In 2019, a new version was made called the “Flag Evolution”, combining the historical aspect of the 1992 version, with the scenery of modern Russia from the 2005 and 2011 versions, and depicting animations of various flags used throughout Russia’s history, such as both Tsarist tricolours (black/yellow/white and white/blue/red), various Soviet (both USSR and RSFSR) flags, and the modern “Red Star Tricolour” flag used since 1992, accompanied by these eras’ greatest accomplishments, such as the Soviet advancements in the “Space Race” (including moon and Mars landings), “Raising a Flag over the Reichstag”, and the discovery of Antarctica. Like the 2011 version, it ends with a CGI animation of the states forming the RFR.

Programs

 * See List of ViD programs

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