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Communist-Era Television
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DocumentaryFan
17-05-2015
Originally Posted by KarlHyde:
“While movies from the west were often shown on GDR television, US TV shows like Bonanza or Dallas were unthinkable. I'm not sure if politics or money was the main reason.”

Well, East Germany was known for being a particularly loyal ally of the Soviet Union (until Glasnost), and the Soviets didn't show any American series either. According to Green, another reason may have been that East German TV had a significant amount of domestic production and therefore didn't need to turn to U.S. series for entertainment.

Speaking of the Soviets, this is how Timothy Green describes a typical evening's TV lineup in Moscow in the early 1970s:

"The choice in Moscow, for instance, at eight o'clock one Tuesday in July 1971 was -- U.S.S.R. soccer championships on Channel 1, a profile of worker in a vacuum cleaner factory on Channel 2, a German lesson on Channel 3, and a new film, Bracelet 2, on Channel 4."

According to Green, the first channel was the flagship channel, broadcast across the Soviet Union, but not simultaneously because of the country's many time zones. The second channel was the local Moscow channel, "concentrating primarily on the capital scene..., covering events of the day, local sports and including plenty of live coverage of concerts and ballet." The third channel was "purely educational," while the fourth channel was mostly highbrow/cultural.

In 1971, the Soviet Union was the only country in the world to use satellites as a primary method of domestic television distribution. According to Green, "Well over three-quarters of all homes can watch at least one channel, while in nearly fifty cities there is both a national channel from Moscow and a regional channel. Leningrad has three channels, Moscow itself boasts four. The Russians are not content to rest at that. The main national programme from Moscow will blanket the entire Soviet Union early in the 1970s, including the remotest and most sparsely populated regions. In addition, regional television centres with five channels are being built in Tashkent and Frunze in the south and Vilnius near the Polish border. The ultimate aim is to have five channels available to every Soviet citizen."

Originally Posted by Darren Lethem:
“Thanks for this. That has to be the worlds worst EVER news theme tune ”

I suppose the fanfare used at the beginning of this 1984 Hungarian newscast could be a runner up in that contest:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Drjtj1LtKIA

Although I quite like the theme they used a few years later:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vxpWWDVE4wU
Darren Lethem
17-05-2015
Thanks to DF's link above I saw this

Hungarian sports news from 1983 starting off with the pools news

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CRLNs_EYKUw
DocumentaryFan
18-05-2015
From Slovenia, here's a 1980s Yugoslav-era commercial for Cockta, a drink that had been created in the 1950s as a Coca-Cola substitute. By the 1980s, Coca-Cola was widely available in Yugoslavia, so Cockta began emphasizing the drink's all-natural ingredients in its advertising:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GVgNnuagH6I

BTW, Cockta still exists today.
IvanIV
18-05-2015
Originally Posted by KarlHyde:
“While movies from the west were often shown on GDR television, US TV shows like Bonanza or Dallas were unthinkable. I'm not sure if politics or money was the main reason. And interestingly, Formula 1 and Grand Slam tennis tournaments were never shown live in the GDR. Football World Cups and European Championships were always covered extensively, even though the GDR only managed to qualify once (in 1974, when they actually beat West Germany in Hamburg).”

Somebody had to approve that a particular programme did not contain a glorification of capitalist values and such and somebody had to go through the dialogs and check. Easier done for the films than TV series, I'd say. And they probably did not even have to check Dallas in detail, it was decadent enough from the outside.
KarlHyde
18-05-2015
Originally Posted by IvanIV:
“And they probably did not even have to check Dallas in detail, it was decadent enough from the outside.”

Agreed. But it's interesting to see that views about decadence differed from one Warsaw Pact country to another.

By the way, East German TV changed their attitude towards US shows in late summer of 1989, when Honecker was still in power. They introduced Elf99, a two-hour block of programming on Friday afternoons that was aimed at teenagers and students (a second edition on Tuesdays started a couple of weeks later). Within this block, the TV adaptation of "Dirty Dancing" was shown for the first time in Germany, followed by the TV version of "Fame". Elf99 also contained music videos from stars like Michael Jackson, and the Dutch chart show Countdown was shown on weekends under the Elf99 label.

At the age of 19, Victoria Herrmann was one of the first hosts of Elf99. She says that the GDR government had introduced the show to prevent young people from leaving the country. The studio was state-of-the-art, the budget was higher than anywhere else in GDR television, and the team were even allowed to invite western bands into the studio. There was a lot of controversy in the team about what to show and what to discuss on air, and during the first weeks and months, hosts and editors always were afraid of being fired. But during the turbulent weeks before and after the fall of the wall, the team became more and more courageous because they felt that current topics simply had to be addressed.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2fVB18pxy1E

Here are the first minutes of Elf99 on Friday, 10th November 1989, only a couple of hours after the fall of the wall:

Part 1: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eX0WRuS5Pmg (The actual programme starts at 3:00. Note Michael Jackson and Karl Marx in the intro...)
Part 2: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wsf8AsfjmLE (interesting clip of a furious citizen who was stopped by the police for speeding)

Despite the historic event, they pretty much adhered to their pre-planned schedule. The fall of the wall was addressed in a 15 minute report. Interestingly, Victoria Herrman says that 50% of adolescents aged 14 to 17 had watched the previous edition of the programme. Until then, ratings had never been publicised.
DocumentaryFan
18-05-2015
Very MTV-like, both in terms of the visual elements and the presenting style.
KarlHyde
18-05-2015
Yeah, the look & feel was quite revolutionary for GDR television. Honecker himself seemed to like it. While he was still in power, a reporter asked him about his opinion...

Reporter: Comrade Honecker, just a couple of words concerning Elf99, the youth programme, please...?
Honecker: That's amazing stuff!
Reporter: Do you like the programme?
Honecker: I always watch it. It's getting better all the time. At least I hope so.
Reporter: Thanks a lot!


http://www.deutschlandfunk.de/franca...icle_id=101971

Preparations for Elf99 apparently began in February 1989. Harald Becker was instructed to plan and direct the programme. He says:

It was meant to be colourful and up to date, and its main purpose was winning back young people from West German TV channels. We were the first team with wireless technology, camcorders, and broadcast control equipment by Sony.

http://www.adlershof.de/news/ein-ganz-tolles-ding/
Darren Lethem
18-05-2015
Did the communist countries ever show the Eurovision Song Contest even though not competing ? It takes place this week and most former Eastern Bloc nations take part nowadays.
DocumentaryFan
18-05-2015
Originally Posted by Darren Lethem:
“Did the communist countries ever show the Eurovision Song Contest even though not competing ?”

I'm not sure about the others -- hopefully someone else will be able to answer your question --, but one Communist country that not only broadcast the ESC but also participated in it almost since the beginning was Yugoslavia. (In fact, it won in 1989, and Zagreb hosted the contest in 1990.)

Yugoslavia was an unusual case politically because, although Communist, it wasn't a part of the Soviet Bloc. In terms of broadcasting, it was a member of the Western European EBU ("Eurovision") rather than its Eastern European equivalent, the OIRT ("Intervision").
KarlHyde
18-05-2015
As far as I know, the ESC was never broadcast in the GDR. Instead, there was the Sopot music festival that was called "Intervision Song Contest" for a couple of years.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sopot_I...inners_by_year
DocumentaryFan
18-05-2015
Originally Posted by KarlHyde:
“As far as I know, the ESC was never broadcast in the GDR. Instead, there was the Sopot music festival that was called "Intervision Song Contest" for a couple of years.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sopot_I...inners_by_year”

Here is a brief excerpt from Wikipedia:

"Between 1977 and 1980 [the Sopot Song Festival] was replaced by the Intervision Song Contest, which was still held in Sopot. Unlike the Eurovision Song Contest, the Sopot International Music Festival often changed its formulas to pick a winner and offered many different contests for its participants. For example, at the 4th Intervision Song Festival (held in Sopot 20–23 August 1980) two competitions were effective: one for artists representing television companies, the other for those representing record companies. In the first the jury considered the artistic merits of the songs entered; while in the second, it judged the performers' interpretation."[4] The festival has always been open to non-European acts, and countries like Cuba, Dominican Republic, Mongolia, New Zealand, Nigeria, Peru, South Africa and many others have been represented in this event."

Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intervision_Song_Contest
DocumentaryFan
18-05-2015
Here's a Soviet commercial for a folding camper trailer to the tune of "Eleanor Rigby":

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=acacJS5so40

And speaking of Communist-era commercials with Western pop instrumentals, here's a 1970s Yugoslav (Slovenian) commercial for the Zastava 101 car featuring "Killing Me Softly":

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cK57yKVr7-g
Darren Lethem
18-05-2015
Originally Posted by DocumentaryFan:
“I'm not sure about the others -- hopefully someone else will be able to answer your question --, but one Communist country that not only broadcast the ESC but also participated in it almost since the beginning was Yugoslavia. (In fact, it won in 1989, and Zagreb hosted the contest in 1990.)

Yugoslavia was an unusual case politically because, although Communist, it wasn't a part of the Soviet Bloc. In terms of broadcasting, it was a member of the Western European EBU ("Eurovision") rather than its Eastern European equivalent, the OIRT ("Intervision").”

And of course Yugoslavia also took part in It's A Knockout ( Jeux Sans Frontier )
KarlHyde
18-05-2015
Oh, right! That was called Spiel ohne Grenzen in West Germany. I only have very vague memories of that show. Was it a live broadcast on Saturday afternoons, or was it taped?

Speaking of international broadcasts: When the rebuilt Semperoper in Dresden was opened in 1985, about 20 countries carried a performance of Der Freischütz. The continuity announcer from East German television read out all the broadcasters, including the BBC. She'd had a hard time learning how to pronounce them...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eTrX8Z2AvFk (announcement starts at 0:20)

And now I'll use the opportunity to pay tribute to East Germany's sexiest continuity announcer: Antje Garden. When I was 12, I had a serious crush on her. Sadly, she died in a car accident in 1993.

https://youtu.be/MCjkMe9EwXY?t=11s
Darren Lethem
18-05-2015
Originally Posted by KarlHyde:
“Oh, right! That was called Spiel ohne Grenzen in West Germany. I only have very vague memories of that show. Was it a live broadcast on Saturday afternoons, or was it taped?

Speaking of international broadcasts: When the rebuilt Semperoper in Dresden was opened in 1985, about 20 countries carried a performance of Der Freischütz. The continuity announcer from East German television read out all the broadcasters, including the BBC. She'd had a hard time learning how to pronounce them...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eTrX8Z2AvFk (announcement starts at 0:20)

And now I'll use the opportunity to pay tribute to East Germany's sexiest continuity announcer: Antje Garden. When I was 12, I had a serious crush on her. Sadly, she died in a car accident in 1993.

https://youtu.be/MCjkMe9EwXY?t=11s”

No it was recorded. In the UK they used to have heats and the winning city would represent GB in a European heat in one of the competing countries - Belgium ( B ), Switzerland ( CH ), Germany ( D ), France ( F ), Italy ( I ) and Netherlands ( NL ). Portugal ( P ) and Yugoslavia ( Y ) joined later
KarlHyde
19-05-2015
Ah, thanks. Here's the rain-swept 1970 Final (not 1971 as stated in the title) from the Arena di Verona, with Great Yarmouth representing the UK:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sXx0EPg5Myw

This reminds me of a more down-to-earth sports competition for children that was regularly shown on East German TV: Mach mit, mach's nach, mach's besser (loosely translated: "Adopt, adapt and improve"). It was shown on Sunday mornings at 10 o'clock. Pupils from three schools competed against each other, and referees from the National Olympic Comittee announced the scores. Adi, the long-serving host in his blue tracksuit, was always assisted by one or two little girls.

https://youtu.be/UlBNz4QYpZ0?t=12s

According to Wikipedia, the programme was also carried by Soviet TV - which explains the cyrillic title for the Youtube upload.

http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mach_mi...%80%99s_besser
DocumentaryFan
20-05-2015
Originally Posted by DocumentaryFan:
“And speaking of Communist-era commercials with Western pop instrumentals, here's a 1970s Yugoslav (Slovenian) commercial for the Zastava 101 car featuring "Killing Me Softly":

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cK57yKVr7-g”

Here's a much better one from the same series, featuring the theme from the movie Midnight Cowboy:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oyByKIFa-ag
KarlHyde
21-05-2015
I really like these ads. I'm not sure about the quality of the car itself (seems to be a badge-engineered Fiat) but the ads definitely met western standards.
KarlHyde
21-05-2015
Here's an ad for the Dacia 1300 (or rather a clip from a TV report? I can't understand a word.)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4m_Z85W5low

When we visited the GDR for the first time in 1981 or 82, I recognised the distinctive shape of a Renault 12 among all the Trabants and Wartburgs. I was 10 or 11 years old, and i wondered why there were Renault cars with different badges on East German streets. thought maybe they had been stolen in France or something.

Of course I had a similar suspicion about the Lada 2101 a.k.a. Shiguli a.k.a. Fiat 124

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E3XfmgyGvuQ (What language is that?)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1eKCRUMItE4 (a Finnish ad for the same car)

Only once in my life, I got to sit in the infamous Trabant, on the passenger seat on my mum's lap. We were driving to a restaurant just a couple of blocks down the road in Magdeburg...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5tZKJ1M4XAw
(Trabant documentary, showing the production of the Duroplast bodywork)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0tvNuUOYr1A
(How to drive and service your Trabant in the summer)
DocumentaryFan
22-05-2015
Speaking of the GDR, here's a short 1994 English-language German documentary about RIAS (Radio in the American Sector), an important Cold War-era radio -- and later television -- service that broadcast from West Berlin but was primarily intended for audiences in East Germany.

Part 1: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4MfDs89WXt4

Part 2: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D-BJw0W-E6c

If you're interested primarily in RIAS's television operations, which didn't get started until the late '80s, you can skip to that point by following this link:

http://youtu.be/D-BJw0W-E6c?t=5m19s
KarlHyde
22-05-2015
Interesting documentary, thanks.

Although I never really listened to RIAS, I was aware of its unique status: Until the mid-80s, it was the only German langauge radio station within West Germany and West Berlin that wasn't part of the public ARD network. And RIAS didn't broadcast from Berlin alone: They also had transmitters in northeast Bavaria, to cover the southern half of the GDR.

About RIAS-TV: Their breakfast show started in 1988, one year after commercial channels RTLplus and SAT.1 had started their early-morning programming. ARD and ZDF, the main public channels, relayed RIAS-TV in the late 80s. Their own breakfast show didn't start until 1992.

RIAS-TV was only broadcast in the morning (6.00-10.00am) and in the early evening (17:50-18.30) on a terrestrial frequency that was otherwise used by SAT.1. It could be received within a radius of 40 km around Berlin.

Here's a Tagesschau report (from ARD) about the first broadcast of RIAS-TV on 22nd August 1988:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FQn4Abot5hA

The reporter says that the start of RIAS-TV had been financed with DM 58m from the West German government and DM 25m from the United States - but only the US controlled the content.
DocumentaryFan
23-05-2015
Interesting!

Originally Posted by KarlHyde:
“About RIAS-TV: Their breakfast show started in 1988, one year after commercial channels RTLplus and SAT.1 had started their early-morning programming. ARD and ZDF, the main public channels, relayed RIAS-TV in the late 80s. Their own breakfast show didn't start until 1992.”

Do you happen to know how well RIAS-TV's morning show did in terms of ratings?

*****

Some pages from a 1988 English-language brochure for RTV Ljubljana (in Slovenia), one of the eight Yugoslav broadcasting organizations:

An introduction to the Socialist Republic of Slovenia:
http://postimg.org/image/3snlmnbn7/
http://postimg.org/image/g82jrp7r5/
http://postimg.org/image/cnesmbk65/

Map of transmitters:
http://postimg.org/image/a21buj1od/

History of RTV Ljubljana:
http://postimg.org/image/4d4pgmpgb/
http://postimg.org/image/ocjunx8xt/

Structure and organization:
http://postimg.org/image/pvleev091/
http://postimg.org/image/v4bdfmccl/
http://postimg.org/image/es1bpvy11/
http://postimg.org/image/4n7pxfls5/

Radio:
http://postimg.org/image/6ubylcr2d/
http://postimg.org/image/d9azi0xs5/
http://postimg.org/image/b26qu3shx/
http://postimg.org/image/vicpf7wg5/

Television:
http://postimg.org/image/akq0oyrlj/
http://postimg.org/image/8ievg9ma3/
http://postimg.org/image/yd90n73h5/
http://postimg.org/image/qffw2gcpx/
http://postimg.org/image/47du00jz3/

Transmitters:
http://postimg.org/image/stvwscppb/
http://postimg.org/image/8b6zn634p/
DocumentaryFan
23-05-2015
Originally Posted by DocumentaryFan:
“History of RTV Ljubljana:
http://postimg.org/image/4d4pgmpgb/
http://postimg.org/image/ocjunx8xt/”

I forgot two pages from this section:

http://postimg.org/image/7fvvkcft1/
http://postimg.org/image/k26ah6i9x/
KarlHyde
23-05-2015
Originally Posted by DocumentaryFan:
“Do you happen to know how well RIAS-TV's morning show did in terms of ratings?”

No, sorry.

Back then, my only sources for ratings figures were the weeekly top 10 or top 20 lists in various listings magazines. ARD & ZDF might have published their daily ratings on teletext but our TV set wasn't equipped with a decoder.
KarlHyde
04-06-2015
Here's a rather idyllic 30-minute documentary about the rapid transit system of East Berlin (S-Bahn) from 1987:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kb5-GzRt9so

The S-Bahn was operated by East Germany's state railway that was (paradoxically) still called "Deutsche Reichsbahn", just like in Nazi Germany. And the Reichsbahn also operated the S-Bahn network in West Berlin. That's why most westerners boycotted the S-Bahn and used the underground (U-Bahn) instead.

West Berlin's U-Bahn system was famous for having a couple of "ghost stations": Some routes crossed below Eastern territory, and from 1961 to 1989, trains drove past deserted (but heavily guarded) stations without stopping. Here's some footage of these ghost stations:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x21In7YV9nQ (in English)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=514Gf5BKra0
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=orPKaCmcnh8
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