Creation of Kyzyl Television Studious in Tuva (1959-1966)

The goal of the article is to reconstruct the process of the creation of the Kyzyl TV Studio, as well as its influencing factors. In particular, the article shows how technical conditions for the work of the TV Studio were prepared (construction of the Kyzyl TV centre, installation of its equipment), its staff was formed, work rules were introduced, and presents the subjects of its first TV programs.The empirical base is made up of documents stored in the Russian State Archive of Socio-Political History and in the State Archive of the Republic of Tuva, publications of national newspapers and a survey conducted among veterans of Tuvan journalism. Most sources are introduced into scholarly debate for the first time. The research has demonstrated that the creation of the Kyzyl TV Studio was created in two stages. From the late 1950s to 1964, technical works aimed at selecting a location for the TV centre were carried out, design and estimate documentation was drafted, and sources and amount of funds for construction were defined. From 1964 to 1966, the TV centre building was erected, equipment was installed, and the preparation of national engineering and journalism staff started. It progressed rapidly thanks to a comprehensive assistance by the USSR (in funds, specialists, equipment and materials) and party control. Due to the complexity of the building being erected, scarcity of skilled construction workers and engineers and lack of materials at the final stage of construction, the construction of the TV centre protracted in its final stage. The materials necessary for the construction of the TV centre and the equipment of the TV studio were needed countrywide. The first TV broadcasts were transmitted before construction and technical works were finished in March and April 1966. On 10 June 1966, the Kyzyl TV studio, not yet completely equipped, was solemnly inaugurated. Speeding up these events, the leaders of the Communist Party sought to make use of ideological opportunities offered by television. It became a means of reproducing the political power system, where the party occupied the pivotal place. In June 1966, a TV studio appeared in the structure of the Radio and TV Broadcasting Committee of the Council of Ministers of the Tuvan ASSR. The core of its staff was made up of specialists that came from Abakan and Biysk, as well as of experienced journalists. The radio studio adopted the same rules that had been already in use by the TV studio (planning, multilevel control, internal training, an important role of public organizations, etc.). In the second half of 1966, programs "Latest News", movies and concerts were broadcast. The preparation level of the studio's own programs was rather low due to the lack of staff, low qualification and combination of functions by the staff. The creation of the Kyzyl TV studio was generally forced, which made it costly. The disadvantageous location of the TV centre in the lowland became a constraining factor in Tuva's equipping for television. Increasing the coverage area of the TV centre's signal by means of relay stations proceeded slowly, as it required significant investments. Programs of the Kyzyl TV studio were to a large extent inaccessible to the population of the Republic due to difficulties of acquisition and high prices of TV sets. Like in other cities of the country, TV programs used to be watched collectively, in flats of lucky owners of TV sets, whose number was increasing every day.

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