Russian TV, Squared

Russia 1 (Rossiya 1 in Russian, formerly simply Rossiya) is one of the main TV channels in Russia. Like much of Russian TV, it is controlled by the state – in this case through direct ownership, as it is a part of VGTRK (All-Russian State Television and Radio Broadcasting Company). VGTRK also owns a number of other channels, and the new logos attempt to give a single identity to the company’s TV empire. They succeed – the new identity, unveiled just before the New Year’s Eve, is uniformly bland and uninspiring. The announcement was made before a select group of journalists in the midst of holiday celebrations and was not accompanied by a press-release. The change of identity came together with a widening of format for two of the channels: Russia 2 (formerly Sport TV