Russia-K (TV Channel)
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Russia-K ( "Russia - Culture") is a Russian nationwide not-for-profit television channel that broadcasts shows regarding arts and culture. It belongs to the state-controlled
VGTRK The Russian Television and Radio Broadcasting Company (RTR) or Russian Television and Radio Broadcasting Company, also known as Russia Television and Radio, is a national state-owned broadcaster which operates many television and radio channel ...
group.


History

The creation of ''Kultura'' channel was authorised on 25 August 1997 after the presidential Decree No. 919 was signed by
Boris Yeltsin Boris Nikolayevich Yeltsin (1 February 1931 – 23 April 2007) was a Soviet and Russian politician and statesman who served as President of Russia from 1991 to 1999. He was a member of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union (CPSU) from 1961 to ...
. Its creation was supported by
Mstislav Rostropovich Mstislav Leopoldovich Rostropovich (27 March 192727 April 2007) was a Russian Cello, cellist and conducting, conductor. In addition to his interpretations and technique, he was well known for both inspiring and commissioning new works, which enl ...
, Dmitry Likhachyov,
Rolan Bykov Rolan Antonovich Bykov (October 12, 1929October 6, 1998) was a Soviet and Russian stage and film actor, director, screenwriter and pedagogue. People's Artist of the USSR (1990). Early life Rolan Bykov was born to Anton Mikhailovich Bykov and Ol ...
and other public figures.
Mikhail Shvydkoy Mikhail Yefimovich Shvydkoy (; born September 5, 1948) is a Soviet and Russian theater critic, drama, social and political activist. Laureate of the State Prize of Russia. The artistic director of the Moscow theater musical, supervisor of the Facu ...
became the first editor-in-chief of Kultura. The channel began broadcasting on 1 November 1997 at 10:00 AM. At the stage of launching, it was planned that it would be called "RTR-2" (while RTR was labeled as RTR-1). The corresponding logo was briefly used in a number of printed TV programs, while the stylized "K" letter was used as the logo from the beginning of broadcast. The channel was rebranded as ''Russia-Culture'' (''Rossiya-K'') on 1 January 2010 along with three other main channels of the VGTRK group. The channel re-transmitted ''
Euronews Euronews (stylised in lowercase) is a pan-European television news broadcasting, news network, headquartered in Lyon, France. It is a provider of livestreamed news, which can be viewed in Europe and North Africa via satellite, and in most of the ...
'' European news channel from 2 October 2001 to 3 September 2017. From 2007 until 2010, it broadcast children's programming produced by
Bibigon Bibigon (Russian: Бибигон) was a Russian television channel dedicated to children and adolescents. The channel, a subsidiary of Russia-1 and owned by VGTRK, was first launched on 1 September 2007. It was originally launched as a block in ...
. Sergey Shumakov has been the editor-in-chief since 2009. The TV channel does not broadcast
advertisements Advertising is the practice and techniques employed to bring attention to a product or service. Advertising aims to present a product or service in terms of utility, advantages, and qualities of interest to consumers. It is typically us ...
, but it promotes cultural events.


1997–2001: The Beginning of Broadcasting

The "Kultura" TV channel began broadcasting on November 1, 1997, at 10:00 Moscow Time. It was initially distributed through the network of the GTRK "Petersburg — Channel Five", except for frequencies in Saint Petersburg and the Leningrad Oblast. During the planning stages, the channel was intended to be named "Kultura" ("RTR-2"). This name and logo were briefly used in some printed TV guides, but the on-air logo from the start was a stylized letter "K". The channel's staff largely consisted of off-screen employees from the disbanded "Lad" studio of Russian Television. Among them were director of musical programs Andrei Torstensen, chief editor of musical programs Valentin Ternyavsky, and head of artistic programs Ekaterina Andronikova. Some, like chief editor Arkady Bederov, had previously worked on the educational channel "Russian Universities," produced by
VGTRK The Russian Television and Radio Broadcasting Company (RTR) or Russian Television and Radio Broadcasting Company, also known as Russia Television and Radio, is a national state-owned broadcaster which operates many television and radio channel ...
, whose airtime was transferred to NTV in 1996. Initially, "Kultura" broadcast from 8:00 to 0:30 on weekdays and from 10:00 to 0:30 on weekends. In the Moscow region, weekday broadcasting was truncated, starting at 12:30. During its first year, "Kultura" shared its frequency in Moscow and the Moscow Oblast with the "Teleexpo" channel during morning and late-night hours, and from September 26, 1998, to October 2, 2001, with "MTV Russia". In
Saint Petersburg Saint Petersburg, formerly known as Petrograd and later Leningrad, is the List of cities and towns in Russia by population, second-largest city in Russia after Moscow. It is situated on the Neva, River Neva, at the head of the Gulf of Finland ...
, the channel did not broadcast initially due to the lack of an available frequency. Later, the channel's programs were temporarily retransmitted by the "OTV" company on channel 49 until "Kultura" acquired its own frequency on channel 29, which occurred on July 2, 2001. On July 10, 1998, Tatyana Paukova was appointed chief editor of the channel by decree of the President of the Russian Federation. In its early years, "Kultura" primarily aired content from the archives of the Gosteleradiofond, as well as select programs and documentaries previously shown on RTR and "Russian Universities". This was due to chronic underfunding of the channel and the limited production of cultural programming in the 1990s. The schedule also included short news segments from RTR's "Vesti," which were presented as "News" with their own hosts. As new projects were launched, the number of these segments decreased. A significant portion of the early programming was produced in Saint Petersburg, with the TPK "Petersburg" being the main contractor. Additional content was provided by VGTRK's own production units, such as "Rost" and "Arena," which also worked with RTR. From 1998 to 2002, the channel occasionally aired sports events that did not fit into RTR's schedule, including the
1998 1998 was designated as the ''International Year of the Ocean''. Events January * January 6 – The ''Lunar Prospector'' spacecraft is launched into orbit around the Moon, and later finds evidence for Lunar water, frozen water, in soil i ...
and
2000 Olympic Games The 2000 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XXVII Olympiad, officially branded as Sydney 2000, and also known as the Games of the New Millennium, were an international multi-sport event held from 15 September to 1 October ...
, the
Euro 2000 The 2000 UEFA European Football Championship, also known as Euro 2000, was the 11th UEFA European Championship, a football tournament held every four years and organised by UEFA, the sport's governing body in Europe. The finals tournament was ...
match between Italy and Turkey, the 1999 World Championships in figure skating and skiing, the
Russian Football Championship The Russian Premier League (RPL; , ''Rossiyskaya premyer-liga''; РПЛ), also written as Russian Premier Liga, is a professional association football league in Russia and the highest level of the Russian football league system. It was establis ...
, the
Volleyball World League The FIVB Volleyball World League was an annual international men's volleyball competition. Created in 1990, it was the longest and richest of all the international events organized by the Fédération Internationale de Volleyball (FIVB). The wome ...
, and the
Kremlin Cup The Kremlin Cup () is a professional tennis tournament played on indoor hard courts, which was suspended in 2022. It was part of the ATP Tour 250 series of the ATP Tour and was a Premier Tournament on the WTA Tour. It was held annually at the ...
tennis tournament. All sports programming was removed from "Kultura" after the launch of the "Sport" channel in 2003. From September 1 to 3, 2000, due to a fire at the
Ostankino Tower Ostankino Tower () is a television and radio tower in Moscow, Russia, owned by the Moscow branch of unitary enterprise Russian TV and Radio Broadcasting Network. Standing , it was designed by Nikolai Nikitin. , it is the tallest free-standin ...
, "Kultura" and NTV jointly broadcast to Moscow and the Moscow Oblast.


2001–2006: Alexander Ponomarev

In June 2001, Alexander Ponomarev, former general director of TV-6, became the general director of the "Kultura" TV channel. He later headed a new subsidiary of VGTRK — GTRK "Kultura" (until July 2001, the entity responsible for the channel was the Federal State Unitary Enterprise "GTC 'Telekanal Kultura", and earlier, from 1997 to 1998, it was the "Main Editorial Office of the 'Kultura' TV Channel of VGTRK"). Simultaneously, a team of top managers who had previously worked with Ponomarev at TV-6 joined the channel: Deputy General Director Stella Neretina, Technical Director Alexander Zolotnitsky, Deputy General Director for Regional Network Development Elena Zlotnikova, Deputy General Director for Financial Affairs Andrei Voskresensky, and Deputy Head of Artistic Film Programming and Head of Special Projects Anna Lyubashevskaya. Under Ponomarev's leadership, the channel underwent significant changes: the quality of programming and inter-program design improved markedly, and by 2002, all departments of the channel had gradually moved to a new building on Malaya Nikitskaya Street. By September 24, 2001, the company "Teleatelie," founded by TV designer Semyon Levin after the dissolution of "NTV-Design," created a new visual identity for the "Kultura" channel. The new logo featured a capital letter "K" next to a floating tricolor. Starting October 2, 2001, the "Kultura" channel partnered with the Russian-language version of "Euronews". Initially, "
Euronews Euronews (stylised in lowercase) is a pan-European television news broadcasting, news network, headquartered in Lyon, France. It is a provider of livestreamed news, which can be viewed in Europe and North Africa via satellite, and in most of the ...
" broadcast only in the Moscow region, overlapping with some of "Kultura's" programming. From November 30, 2002, to September 3, 2017, "Euronews" was integrated into the "Kultura" broadcast schedule across all regions. Initially, its morning broadcasts ran from 6:30 to 12:30 on weekdays and from 6:30 to 10:00 on weekends. From September 30, 2002, it aired daily from 7:00 to 10:00, and from October 2, 2006, to September 3, 2017, it aired from 7:00 to 10:00 on Mondays and from 6:30 to 10:00 on other days. In the Moscow and Moscow Oblast version, in addition to the morning block, there was a nighttime block — initially from 0:30 to 3:00, but the start time shifted over time: from April 1, 2002, it ran from 1:00 to 3:00, from September 29, 2003, from 1:30 to 3:00, and from October 3, 2006, from 2:00 to 3:00 (except on Mondays). On September 1, 2002, the channel's logo changed again: the word "Kultura" replaced the capital letter "K" next to the floating tricolor. On September 30, 2002, coinciding with the launch of a new studio complex, the "Kultura" channel transitioned to zonal broadcasting. Program distribution was divided into four broadcast zones: "M" (Moscow time), "Double-3" (+2 hours), "Double-2" (+4 hours), and "Double-1" (+7 hours). At the same time, the channel began broadcasting at 10:00 in all regions without exception. After the expiration of the license for OJSC "MTK ' Teleexpo" on channel 33 in Moscow (which occurred on June 8, 2003), the "Kultura" channel launched a separate version for residents of Moscow and the Moscow Oblast. Despite this, in Moscow and the Moscow Oblast, the channel went on an official weekly technical break from 1:45 to 6:30 on Tuesday mornings. Starting in 2003, during quarterly maintenance work on the "Kultura" channel across Russia, the breaks occurred from Sunday to Monday night from 1:30 (later 2:00) to 7:00 (later 6:30 starting in 2017) and from Tuesday to Wednesday until 10:00. In the latter case, if such a technical break occurred, "Kultura" would start broadcasting immediately at 10:00 Moscow Time. From 2001 to 2003, during maintenance days, the main "Kultura" channel still broadcast, initially in an extended format until 15:30–16:00, and later until the start of regular programming at 10:00.


2006–2009: Tatyana Paukova

After Alexander Ponomarev moved to the TVC channel in early 2006, Tatyana Paukova once again took the helm of "Kultura" as the channel's chief editor. By the end of that year, GTRK "Kultura" ceased to exist as an independent legal entity, becoming a branch of VGTRK, which Paukova also headed. Despite this, until July 2017, the copyright notice "GTRK 'Kultura'" continued to appear at the end of programs and documentaries produced either in-house or by third parties. Throughout the broadcast period of the children's channel "
Bibigon Bibigon (Russian: Бибигон) was a Russian television channel dedicated to children and adolescents. The channel, a subsidiary of Russia-1 and owned by VGTRK, was first launched on 1 September 2007. It was originally launched as a block in ...
" (from September 1, 2007, to December 26, 2010), programs from this channel were aired during daytime slots in a dedicated block on "Kultura". Until January 1, 2010, the "Kultura" logo was adapted to resemble the "Bibigon" logo during these broadcasts. On June 24, 2009, by decree of the President of Russia, the "Kultura" channel was included in the first multiplex of Russia's digital television as a mandatory channel for nationwide distribution. Since November 19, 2009, Sergey Shumakov has served as the chief editor and director of the channel.


Since 2010: Sergey Shumakov

On January 1, 2010, the channel changed its logo to "Rossiya-K," styled to match the new branding of VGTRK. The full name of the channel became "Rossiya-Kultura." Starting in January 2011, the informational programs on "Kultura" began to be sponsored by
VTB Bank VTB Bank (; formerly known as ''Vneshtorgbank'', , lit. 'International Trade Bank') is a Russian majority state-owned bank headquartered in various federal districts of Russia; its legal address is registered as St. Petersburg. As of 2022, ...
, marking the first time in the channel's history that a contract was signed with a commercial organization. After the federal law "On Protecting Children from Information..." came into force in September 2012, all programs aired on the channel (with very few exceptions) were broadcast without any age restrictions. On the channel's 15th anniversary (November 1, 2012), a special episode of the program "Nablyudatel" was aired, lasting a record-breaking 9.5 hours. From March 15, 2015, following a decision by VGTRK's leadership, the terrestrial broadcasting operator FGUP "Russian Television and Radio Broadcasting Network" (RTRS) gradually phased out analog broadcasting of the channel in a number of localities across 61 regions of Russia. Broadcasting continued only as part of the first multiplex (RTRS-1). In June 2017, the channel underwent staff optimization: according to official data, 114 employees were laid off (out of approximately 700), while other sources reported that the staff was reduced by almost 40% (previously, it had been 800 people). The reasons for this included preparations for relocating to the Shabolovka Television Center, where "Kultura" had been partially housed until 2002], transitioning to High-definition television, high-definition (HD) broadcasting, and moving to a centralized signal distribution system under VGTRK. In July 2017, due to financial and programming considerations, the long-running talk show "Kulturnaya Revolyutsiya," which had been airing since the early 2000s, was permanently canceled. This was done in favor of another talk show hosted by Mikhail Shvydkoy, titled "Agora," which launched in May 2017. On July 19, 2017, the channel's logo underwent a partial change: the font of the word "Rossiya" on the blue rectangle was replaced, and the logo became opaque. Starting August 1, 2017, new episodes of the channel's programs, as well as the translation and dubbing of foreign
documentaries A documentary film (often described simply as a documentary) is a nonfiction motion picture intended to "document reality, primarily for instruction, education or maintaining a historical record". The American author and media analyst Bill ...
and films, were produced directly under the order of VGTRK, with their intros mentioning the full name of the channel — "Rossiya-Kultura." From September 4, 2017, the channel began broadcasting from 6:30 to 3:00 in all regions of Russia, including the version for Moscow and the Moscow Oblast. As a result, the "Euronews" block was completely removed from the broadcast on this frequency. Pyotr Fedorov, Director of the International Relations Directorate at VGTRK, explained the necessity of this decision by citing the outdated format of "a channel within a channel," the shift of the block's audience to watching the channel online or via gadgets, and requests from "Kultura's" chief editor, Sergey Shumakov. Other reasons included the claim that "Kultura," forced to share airtime with Euronews, was allegedly losing its audience. Additionally, starting from this date, the channel began its broadcasts with the
Russian national anthem The "State Anthem of the Russian Federation" is the national anthem of Russia. It uses the same melody as the "State Anthem of the Soviet Union, State Anthem of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics", composed by Alexander Vasilyevich Alex ...
(previously, broadcasts started with a clock and the main intro). In 2018, the channel transitioned to 16:9 format broadcasting. The transition occurred in two stages: from January 17, the "active picture" (the on-screen image) switched to this format, while actual broadcasting continued in 4:3 format until February 1. From April 24, 2019, video recordings of new episodes of the channel's programs were uploaded to its website in HD format. Starting March 27, 2020, the channel began broadcasting in high definition as part of the digital HD
multiplex Multiplex may refer to: Science and technology * Multiplex communication, combining many signals into one transmission circuit or channel ** Multiplex (television), a group of digital television or radio channels that are combined for broadcast * ...
on channel 58 in Moscow and the Moscow Oblast. From March 30 to June 23, 2020, due to the coronavirus situation, the channel adjusted its broadcast schedule following the closure of theaters, cinemas, and concert halls by presidential decree. The airing of almost all programs, including "Novosti Kultury," "Nablyudatel," "Glavnaya Rol," " Spokoynoy Nochi, Malyshi," "Agora," "Vlast Fakta," and several documentary projects, was gradually suspended. The
slogan A slogan is a memorable motto or phrase used in a clan or a political, commercial, religious, or other context as a repetitive expression of an idea or purpose, with the goal of persuading members of the public or a more defined target group ...
"Kultura Doma" (Culture at Home) was added below the channel's logo until June 2. In August–September, after informational programs returned to the schedule, the logo of their sponsor,
VTB Bank VTB Bank (; formerly known as ''Vneshtorgbank'', , lit. 'International Trade Bank') is a Russian majority state-owned bank headquartered in various federal districts of Russia; its legal address is registered as St. Petersburg. As of 2022, ...
, was removed from their intros. In the fall of 2020, the channel canceled talk shows launched during Alexander Ponomarev's tenure: "Tem Vremenem. Smysly" and "Chto Delat?". The programs "Kult Kino," "Pyatoe Izmerenie," and "SAS. Te, s Kotorimi Ya..." ceased production following the deaths of their hosts, Kirill Razlogov, Irina Antonova, and Sergey Solovyov, respectively. On November 1, 2020, a media platform named "Smotrim" was launched. It began hosting fresh videos of current programs and news segments from VGTRK's three main channels ("Rossiya-1," "Rossiya-Kultura," and "Rossiya-24"), with registration requiring an
SMS Short Message Service, commonly abbreviated as SMS, is a text messaging service component of most telephone, Internet and mobile device systems. It uses standardized communication protocols that let mobile phones exchange short text messages, t ...
code sent to a phone number. A month later, all existing videos, news, and program pages on the channel's website were also moved to this platform and merged with those of " Rossiya-1."


Programming

The channel specializes in programs about
Russian Russian(s) may refer to: *Russians (), an ethnic group of the East Slavic peoples, primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries *A citizen of Russia *Russian language, the most widely spoken of the Slavic languages *''The Russians'', a b ...
and world history,
science Science is a systematic discipline that builds and organises knowledge in the form of testable hypotheses and predictions about the universe. Modern science is typically divided into twoor threemajor branches: the natural sciences, which stu ...
,
literature Literature is any collection of Writing, written work, but it is also used more narrowly for writings specifically considered to be an art form, especially novels, Play (theatre), plays, and poetry, poems. It includes both print and Electroni ...
,
music Music is the arrangement of sound to create some combination of Musical form, form, harmony, melody, rhythm, or otherwise Musical expression, expressive content. Music is generally agreed to be a cultural universal that is present in all hum ...
, fine and
decorative arts ] The decorative arts are arts or crafts whose aim is the design and manufacture of objects that are both beautiful and functional. This includes most of the objects for the interiors of buildings, as well as interior design, but typically excl ...
, and
architecture Architecture is the art and technique of designing and building, as distinguished from the skills associated with construction. It is both the process and the product of sketching, conceiving, planning, designing, and construction, constructi ...
. The programs include
classical music Classical music generally refers to the art music of the Western world, considered to be #Relationship to other music traditions, distinct from Western folk music or popular music traditions. It is sometimes distinguished as Western classical mu ...
concerts,
operas Opera is a form of Western theatre in which music is a fundamental component and dramatic roles are taken by singers. Such a "work" (the literal translation of the Italian word "opera") is typically a collaboration between a composer and a li ...
,
ballet Ballet () is a type of performance dance that originated during the Italian Renaissance in the fifteenth century and later developed into a concert dance form in France and Russia. It has since become a widespread and highly technical form of ...
s, and musical competitions. Among the channel's other programs are culture news, documentaries, lectures by leading domestic and foreign scholars, discussions on various aspects of social life. The channel often features interviews with artists, writers, scientists, politicians, and military figures.


Logo history

File:Russia-Cultura.png, Russia-K's fifth logo only used in 2010 File:Russia-Cultura.svg, Russia-K's seventh logo used from 2017 to present-day. Initially used as a secondary logo between 2010-2017.


References


External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Russia K Russian-language television stations in Russia Television channels and stations established in 1997 1997 establishments in Russia Commercial-free television networks Classic television networks