All-Union Radio

All-Union Radio 

(full name, Central Intra-Union Radio Broadcasting), radio broadcasts for the population of the USSR, as well as Soviet citizens abroad; one of the basic means of mass communication and propaganda of Marxist-Leninist ideology and socialist culture; a component of the Soviet information organization, the State Committee on Television and Radio of the Council of Ministers of the USSR. All-Union Radio comprises Central Broadcasting from Moscow (for the population of the entire country) and local broadcasting, which is done from the capitals of Union and autonomous republics and from krai, oblast, and okrug centers in the national languages of the USSR.

The average daily amount of broadcasting from Moscow is over 140 hours; it is transmitted from radio stations working on long, middle, short, and ultrashort waves. Central Broad-casting has seven programs (1970). Program 1, the basic channel, operates 20 hours a day (from 5:00 A.M. until 1:00 A.M., Moscow time) and is relayed to all local radio stations and relay stations; it includes network news(Poslednie izvestiia, commentary, reports, and so on) and sociopolitical, economic, scientific, educational, dramatic, musical, and sports programs. In consideration of the people who live in the Far Eastern and Eastern Siberian time zones, Program 1 is broadcast as 1-A, and for the republics of Central Asia, Kazakhstan, and Western Siberia, as 1-B.

Program 2 carries news and music (Maiak) 24 hours a day and broadcasts 48 national and international newscasts (every half hour).

Program 3 is cultural. It is on the air for 16 hours a day and includes literature and music broadcasts—concerts, opera, plays, radio shows, and so on.

Program 4 operates 24 hours a day, broadcasting to Soviet citizens abroad, especially merchant marines and sailors in the fishing fleet, as well as to foreigners who know or are studying the Russian language.

Program 5 is literary and musical and is transmitted on ultrashort waves (for listeners within a 140-160 km radius of Moscow). Central Broadcasting’s programming is prepared by the appropriate chief editorial staff of the State Committee on Television and Radio of the Council of Ministers of the USSR. The chief editorial staff of each program coordinates and airs the programs.

Local broadcasting is organized by the committees for television and radio, created by the corresponding Soviet organs. In 1970 there were broadcasts in 61 languages of the peoples of the USSR, averaging more than 1,000 hours daily. An exchange of programs between Central Broadcasting and local stations mutually enriches the broadcasts, leads to the strengthening and development of political, economic, and cultural ties among socialist nations, and instills Soviet patriotism and proletarian internationalism. All-Union Radio supports extensive ties with radio organizations of foreign countries, takes part in program exchanges, and participates in international competitions and seminars.