Telekompaniya ViD (Alternative Russia)

Telekompaniya ViD is a Russian media conglomerate. It was founded in 1986 as Романов и сотрудники (Romanov and Associates) by Andrei Romanov and 2 co-workers, at first looking to produce programs for TV USSR (now RT1), and was one of the first privately-owned media companies in then-Soviet Russia.

A year later in 1987, Romanov noticed an offer to operate the first privately-owned television station in the Soviet Union, Channel 4 in Moscow, and was one of only 3 applicants. While the 2 other companies promised extravagant shows that would have been impossible to produce, Romanov successfully won the license by being more subtle, promising “only what we can afford at first”, and relying mainly on foreign imports. As a result, RVID-TV was launched in June of that year.

The station, branded as ViD, received much of its initial funding from advertising, being the first commercial television network in the country. By 1990, ViD had enough money to not only expand to other cities in the RSFSR, and license its branding and programs to local stations in smaller markets (the “affiliate model” used in the United States), but also organize a series of concerts in Moscow throughout the summer months, at first featuring obscure local performers. This would become an annual tradition, with concerts throughout all of Russia, known as the Hot Summer Nights Concert Series. Also in 1990, Romanov and Associates was renamed to Telekompaniya ViD, after its main business, the ViD television network.