Russian historiography of Soviet television: achievements, problems and research prospects

The article is first to explore Russian historiography devoted to the history of Soviet television. It covers a long period, starting with the works of the 1950s, which were characterized by an interest in the technical side of television, and ending with the modern research, in which the emphasis was shifted to the history of regional Soviet television, and also to its everyday moments. The article pays special attention to the analysis of the current situation of Russian historiography about the history of Soviet television. The author outlines the prospects for further development in the study of this issue. It is concluded that over the entire century-long period, scholars have most vividly highlighted the technical aspects of Soviet television, as well as analyzed in detail its propaganda function. However, some everyday issues have not yet been considered, such as the peculiarities of the perception by the Soviet people of television and of its direct participants (announcers, actors, directors). Despite the strong interest of researchers in the last two decades in the history of regional television, the operation of television broadcasting in some important border and multicultural territories (for example, in the Orenburg region) has not been comprehensively analyzed. The author concludes that, regardless of the existence of extensive domestic historiography, the topic of the history of Soviet television has not been fully explored yet.

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