THE TRANSMISSION OF SOVIET BROADCASTS

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP80-00809A000500730197-0
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: C
• Document Page Count: 5
• Document Creation Date: December 21, 2016
• Document Release Date: September 4, 2003
• Sequence Number: 197
• Publication Date: November 11, 1998
• Content Type: REPORT

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l;lJ1JJIrII:AI IUIV CONFIDENTIAL ~vo~ur rm~-- -
CENTRAL iNTELLIGENCE AGENCY
ItVFORM/4TlOi~l R~PORjT'
25X1
1. Pr~.mars~ Stations: Tho following are the oatimated' number of Soviet
primary broadcasting atationa~ the.~.Tord "primary" meaning etatioae which
originate programs and disseminate them on the air via their oxa trana-
mitter or tranamitberai
Zong Wave I -- 45
Medium Wave-- 65
Short Wave -- 50
Tha total number of primary broadcasting atatioiae iri the Soviet IInion
ie, therefore, estimated to be 160.',
COTE; A ama11 additional number of short trave'Itranamittera
9.a known to oxiat but caaaot bo; aocurataly','oatima~od because
of divereioa to fuactlon ae damming traaemitter,e rather than
broadcasting tranamittore, A rough estimate wau~.d bo perhaps
tea. I
2. Relax f~~~tion~; Soviet broadcast relay stations ta11 into txo categorioa
which merit counting as distinct grouper
a. Tranamittera radiating programs on rho air xhich originawl,te
with a primary broadcasting station, usually Moocor. The estimated
number of these is ten, A larger >uumber oparati~~ng'~on such 1ou
power ae to defy foreign observation might exist.
CLASSIFICATION. CONFIDENTIAT. ~~~~~~,~~ D ~~~
PLACE
ACQUIRED
DATE
ACQUIRED
THE TF2ANSMISSION OF SOVIET BROdDCfiSTS
iN l! DOCUN[NT CONTAI Nf INfONYAiION Af1[CTIND tN[ NAIIONAI D[I[NS[
Of iNl YNIT[D ATAT[S N11NIN TN[ N[ANINO 0/ TN[ [7-IDNAD[ ACT 00
u. s. c.. 11 AND At. As AN[nD[D. rt[ Tnen[rn[lon o[ Tn[ NtruArloN
Of It! iONT[NT! IN ANI ^ANN[N TO AN YNAVTNONII[0 /[IRON 1[ -AO?
NI.It[D [I lAw.__ N[-AO DUCTION O/ tNl[ fOAAI I[ INONI~ITI D.
THI'S IS
DATE DISTR. Dec?mber 1950
(LISTED BELOWI
SUPPLEMENT TO
REPORT N0. 00-F-1
UNEVALUATED INFORMATIO
1. The number of primary stations for domeaticibroadcaeting la
estimated as 160. They broadcast approximately 900 hours daily, in at
least 26 langaagea. i
2. The number of transmitters for foreign broacl'casting 1a estimated
as 50, of which 33 are short-roave,', They broadcast~approaimately 8? hours
daily, in 41 languages. Tables on'apecific tranamitfere and languages
are presented heraxith. j
A. SOYTET T~RNAII BROA~CdSTINa
STATE
ARMY
NAVY
AIR..
25X1
25X1
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U. Audio amplifier uuita which function as central distribution
points to numerous loud speaker nnd'public address speakers
through direct wired connection. l~o atstistics or basis for
accnrata estimation of the total number of these units is available.
Such stations usuall^ earv
e
~ orsan0
bl'aet-wide
o -
~ or Collective basis and th I . ~' n wide, Municipal
e goal of the Soviet Union in thi
respect is Lotal "radioficatidn". s
I'i~
3. Use of Relav 'Stations for Oriein i Pro sma: The number of the above
relay stations which can be used for or~glnal pTOgrnm transmission cannot
be estimated. He vever, dust as it is L?!~e', goal,.; acid in fact nearly true,
that every Soviat'~IRapublic, Autonomous Republic and Kral shall have its
oxn primary ataLion, so is it the goal, which it is estimated as boing
'about 90 per cent attained h
t at eve C`~
. I'Y last capital Shall have
it
~ s
,own relay atation~,~capable of original program transmission. Monitored
obeervatiou of regional broadcasts,through the Soviet Union has .not
iadlcated existence of any pro graml~traasmiasion originating with a relay
station in as admiaiatrative aubdivision'emaller than as Oblast for
.broadcasting over the air. It has~lbeeni~ferred, however, from various
Soviet atatementsthat at least some relay stations which ma,}r serve a
ve la
ry ca1 area, as a municipalitylor paseibly even a collective farm or
factory era capable of originating programs for distribution over the
'local wired network.
4. Hours er D St ti
n nv'I a atica com Iii e
? p 1 d from obs
ervation o
f 125 of the
160 pri tran
~'Y amittera indicate
nn ae~regate program time ~uat sli htl
c+Qer 700 hours e ' g Y
r I
Ex
P .day. trapolated for 160 tr
cumber of hours pe'i day of ansmitto:s the total
programaning i~ the Soviet Uaion for domesL?ic
consumption thus i~a estimated to be' apprpaimately 900 hours. This does
not take into account an ro r
Y P g amming broadcast over
wired e
I studios at lower t an the Oblast level ' n tworks from
for which absolute ~ no estim
~ 1.1 atlon
cen be made. Thie~~, total figiu?e sveragea about 12 hours per d~v per station.
In farms of transml,tters, since some atr~iLiona consist of more than one
transmitter with si~niltaneous or separate programming, this total aver ea
a little leas than 6 h ~
i i ours per day per transmitter. Individual cases
vary conalderably,rangiag from a faw hovxs per day to as high as 18 or
22 hours per day, i i
I 5. an s?
Ob ervation of more ~' tl?:
~ as 80' r
regional broadcastia station Pe cant of Soviet primary
g s and bblast'rel atatio
~Y na al h
t ?ugh is
some cases not overthe comply to bro~ideaeting day, has thus far revealed
only 26 domestic languages, including Rusai'an, Since Soviet claims run
1n the vicinity of !150 additional laziguage~s, it is highly probable that
if the claims era true the majority 'of mil oxity languages are broadcast
~ I
only over wired networks to very limited audiences.
SOVIET FOREIGN BROATiCASTTNC} '~
1. Tr~an_ .emitters: The total number of So iet traaemitters ueod for foroign
.broadcasting ie eatl~mated to be 50. '~TYxialfigura 'breaks dawn into 33 short
wave branemltters o~ wh
i ch 20 as
a at'',Moecow, 13 medium wave tranem
sad 4 ion ittere
wave tr
g anam tt
1 ere none of wh
1
~ ch
around the USSR is at Moscow but scat tared
poriphery. The location, power, target area and hours
per day for each trc3asmitter aro givbn in Table I.
I I
COPTl+'TIENTIAZa
~~~~~!1~~:~~~7 ~.~~
i 1.
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Ashkhabad
Baku
Bsku (Clandestine)
Baku
Birobidzhan
Chita
Shabarov sk
n
$lev
S1 shinev
Somsomolsk
n
n
n
n
n
Leningrad
N
QOIO?'IlXSNTIAL ~:~~g~~ak-~~~ ,1, ~o~i
' I, TABLE I
Transmitters TFsed in Scibiet Internationsil Bioadcasti e
~''' I
~~
Band
S
S
M
L
M
L
Tashkent S
Vladivostok M
n L
Yerevan S
Moscow
n
n
n
n
n
n
n
n
n
M
n
n
n
n
n
S (~1)
S ('~'2)
S (~3 )
S ('~'i)
S (1~G)
S (~6)
S (~7)
S (~a)
S (~9)
S ($10)
S (~11)
S ($12)
^a (~13)
S (q~14)
S (~15)
S (~16)
n S (t~17)
24oscow (clandestine) S (~18)
" " S (~19)
" " S (720 )
17 hr. 0 min.
16 hr. 30 min?
14 hr. 30 min.
13 hr. 30 min.
12 hr. 45 m1n.
11 hr. 'i5 min.
11 hr, 30 min.
10 hr. 40 min.
10 hr. 30 min.
10 hr. 30 min.
10 hr. 15 min.
9 hr. 30 min.
9 hr. 15 min.
b hr. 45 min.
8 hr. AS min?
8 hr. 30 min.
8 hr. 15 min.
5 hr. 30 min.
5 hr. 30 min.
6 hr. 30 min.
NOTEt Distributions for Moscox ar i aetimate~! Ibut approximately Corr ct, based on
detailed sualysis of total, effort by t~gecow. ~ A11 figures for tiransmitters
in otter .locations are re]:at~ively firm,',
~, i i
COD~FIDEP7TTAL
~~
Estimate3' ! '
Poxer Outsiut ~ar~eet Araa Be
i I
Hours Per Dav
On Tha Air
25 Kw ;, I j 'South Bc Southeast)
is 1 hr. X1
5 min.
5 Klfi
'',I Iran and Turke,~
3 hr. X1
0 min.
10 KW
', ', ~ Iran & Middle Eas
t 3 hr.
5 min.
35 KN
', ! ! Iran
1 hr.
0 min.
5 KK
'' 'Manchuria
2 hr. 3
0 min.
20 KM
I ~ ~ ' Mongolia
1 hr. 1
5 min.
60 KW
' ! I Sores
0 hr. X1
5 min.
15 KW
j ~. ~ Sores
0 hr. A
5 min.
50 K,,
~ ! I ~ North Asia
10 hr.
0 min.
~!0 KW
'' North Asia
~
3 hr. 1
5 min.
40 KW
~ ! ' W. Europe 8o N. Am
r. 12 hr.
0 min.
50 KW
' I ~~ 'Ba12~u-a
9 hr
3
0 m1n
50 KW
' 'N. Amer. & Far Eas
.
t 14 hr. 3
.
0 min.
50 KW
; ! Fsr East
20 hr.
0 min.
50 KW
'~ 'Far East
10 hr.
0 min.
10 KW
',~ Japan
1 hr.
0 min.
15 KW
~ Japaa
2 hr. 3
0 min.
50 KW
',' North Asia
10 hr. 0
min.
50 KW
I'I W. Europe & L. Ame
r. 12 hr. 0
min.
100 KW
'~I 'Scandinavia
~
4 hr. 15
min.
50 KW
''~ Southeast Europa
7 hr. 0
min.
60 KW
'' 'Central Europe
3 hr. 0
min.
10 KW
' ; ~ Sores
0 hr. 95
mdn.
50 KW
' N. Amer. 8, Far EFa
t 16 hr. 40
min.
50 KW
Scandinavia, N. Eur
ope 4 hr. 10
min.
50 KW
'
' Groat Britain &
,
Scandinavia
~
I
1 hr. 30 min.
25 ILW
', '
; Central & South As
ia 3 hr. 0 min.
100 KW
North Asia
10 hr. 0 min.
26 I{W
' ' North Asia
7 hr. 0 min.
7 KW
N. East & Medit.
0 hr. 30 min.. (?)
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TA8h1~ II
T~.rget A:eae of Soviet Broadclasti~ Ef~'ort
Averse Nu~.ber o Total, T,~ o~
TrAaamit'tera UEted a~B ~1' ~xfort
Albanian
Bulgarian
Czech
Hungarian
Polish
Humaniau
slova~
3 II
3I
4 I~'
31
3 i
~I
4I
_~,
Chinese (Mandarin) 11
Mongolian g
Uighur (to S:+,nkiang) j 1
Soreaa (in both spheres) 10 iii
f}ermaa (in both spheres) 5
Aus~rlaa (in both spheres)', 3 III
Arabic
Armenian
Aserbai~anl (clandestine)
Basque
Bengali
Catalan
Dani ah
Dutch
Bngliah (to USA)
Hnglish (to UK)
Hngliah (to SE1 Aeia)
Finnish
French
f~ree3c
Hindustani
Tndoneaian, Ma1ey*
Italian
~ spans ea
Kurdish (olandeatine)
Latvian (to Zatviana abroad
Macodoniaa
Nox~regiaa
Persian
Persian (claodostino)
Portugdeee (to Erazil)
QONE'TDKNTTAL
-i ;.~i
~f.:)
I ,
O hr. '3n;
min.
1 hr. 30
min.
1 hr. '9A
min.
1 hr.
40'
min.
2 hr.
61
min.
2 hr. '
,S
min.
1 hr. ~
t0
I
;
min.
~ ,
3 hr.
~
0;
min.
1 hr.
151.~
m?.a.
1 hr.
hr.
5 hr.
~ ~.
,26 hr .
,0~ min.
~-'i
1'6~ Imin.
!S~ i~min.
30, ~i~n.
L
4 '
f I
~.~ ~.n.
b hr,
O;
i lain.
0 hr.
30
`j lain.
16
~ ~nin.
0 hr.
34
i ~
'~min.
'
e
0 hr.
15`
4b=
~~n.
. min.
1 b'r.
0~'
sain.
Sk hr,
g4k
^~sin.
3 br,
30:
~ i n.
1~~ hr
30'
i~1n?
2i hr,
Q
~-in.
3' hr
].0
min.
1
hr.
30j
"inin.
0
...r.
],54
a.
'iain.
i
0
hr.
301
{aain.
:~,
~
1
hr.
hr.
hr,
3A ;;
Q =
O r'
{min.
akin.
iaia.
O
hr,
26r
t
a}in.
: I~
1 '.ir, 30' i~,in.
1 'ar. 1B ~~ain.
~ ~ hr. 46 i~in.
1 ~ hr. Oaiia.
f' i hr.' 30 sin.
~ i.il l
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 CO]~A'IDENTIAT. ~Qf~6~~~~',M~t$~~}!
~ '', _~ I
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TaELE TI (Continuod)
H. To Noa-Soviet S7ohe~e (cont~d)
Portuguese (ta Portugal)
Serb/Croat
Slovene
Spanish (to, Spain)
Spanish (to, Spain)(clandestinb)
Sxedish
'Purki eh
Ut~ainian (to Ukrainians abro
Spanish (to~Latin America) ~,
verge Nuai'~er of
'i'ranAmitter~Uaed
'3
4
4
4
~5
6 i,
3 ,~
2
1
~'ota~. Time o~
A~,i Lv Effort,
0 hr. 30 min.
4 hr. 25 min.
2 hr. 0 min.
z hr. 0 min.
5 hr. 30 min.
2 hr. 0 min.
1 hr. 30 min.
z hr. 35 min.
2 hr, 0 min.
61 hr. 19 min.
The Soviet radio broadcasts to 1lateners',ia foreign countries in seven languages
which are used neither~by the Yoice of l~erica ear tlia BBC. These languai,as
and the number of hours par day broadcast Lima iiavoted`to each are as follows:
Armenian (from Yerevan)
Basque (frcm Moscow)
Catalan (fro~? Moscow)
Latvian (rrom Riga)
Macedonian (From Moscow)
Mongo2lsa (_rom Moscox)
Uighur (fromi Tashkent to Sinklaug)
OONP'I~4NTIAL
~ I
'30 minutes daily
115 minutes eek
'1S minutes e~skly
', 23 minutes daily (except oa
Tuesday when X13 minutes)
!90 minutes daily
!, 7S minutes daily
I60 minutes daily
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