History
Trial period (July — November 1989)
The channel was established by order of the state television and radio broadcasting of the USSR as a structural division within the General Directorate of programs (GDP). The staff initially had 6 people, among them: Sergey Alexandrovich Alekseev (Director), Olga Smirnova, Oleg Shchur (Producer), Olga Lukasik (administrator), in August, Sergey Lavrov joined the team as an artist. Trial broadcasting on 3 channel in Moscow and the Moscow region began in July 1989 under the name "Commercial TV channel". Broadcasting was carried out in the daytime, as in the evening the state "Moscow program CT" was broadcasting on the same frequency. The duration of the broadcasts of the "Commercial TV channel" was not fixed. Music videos of "all She Wants Is" by Duran Duran, "Always on My Mind" by Pet Shop Boys, "Assez!" by Niagara, "Everywhere" by Fleetwood Mac, "Around My Heart" by singer Sandra, "Soldier" by singer Thomas Anders, "Mon mec à moi" by singer Patricia Kaas, "Don't Stop the Dance" by singer Bryan ferry, as well as fragments of the song were broadcast during the commercial.concert of the band space in Moscow. The employees had only a small room No. 115 behind the bar in ask-3 (Olympic TV and radio complex) and two hardware rooms, an on-air and an Assembly room.1989—1997
The name «2x2» was coined by the team around the end of July 1989, at the same time Sergey Lavrov (the only artist in the team) developed the General style of the TV channel and the original version of the logo, which with minor changes still exists. On November 1, 1989, the channel began broadcasting under its own name on the frequency of "Moscow program CT", later - "MTK". In the evening (from 18:00 to 23:00), the MTK channel was broadcast. The meaning of the name «2x2» at the beginning of the channel's activity was explained as" proportional provision of air for advertising and other programs on the principle of 50×50", due to the fact that advertising there was both a source of funding and a form of functioning. At the initial stage of work, 2x2 did not have money for the production and purchase of programs, as a result of which the broadcast network was filled with materials obtained thanks to the personal connections and capabilities of its managers. Half-hour and more advertising blocks, an advertising clip of the company "Video international", modern Soviet and foreign music videos and cartoons (in particular, the Soviet TV "Screen") were shown on the air, later (in December 1991) the TV series "Captain Power and soldiers of the future"was shown and then repeated many times. The series "I Spy" was also broadcast. In addition, 2x2 also showed a selection of domestic clips, starting with the clip of Oleg Beskrovny "a knock in the heart" (the main character of this selection was Igor Talkov). Among other videos shown by the channel were clips of the Alla Pugacheva song theater from the Video international company, "Accountant" by the Combination group," Arab gold "by the Forgotten conversation group," love Street "and" Ksenia "by Alena Apina. In the program "Afisha" with DJ Ale-Alena, which also broadcast video clips of Russian artists such as Bogdan Titomir and Oleg Gazmanov. From the first day of broadcast have been broadcast by Sergei Selenourea — "Batalla!". The lack of a rigid broadcast grid and the format of a six-time repeat of the same block of entertainment programs and advertising, which were the result of limited financial resources and a small number of programs at the disposal of 2x2, largely played a role in the growth of its popularity. The channel broadcast in the format of the so-called "background television", when viewing which the viewer could not pay attention to the picture shown on the screen, or even start watching the TV channel from any moment, without specifically catching this or that TV program. TV sets in offices, shops, cafes and other public places and institutions were often tuned to 2x2. At that time, 2x2 was the only domestic TV channel that often showed music videos, which strongly distinguished it from the General background of several existing Soviet TV channels. The channel was very popular among Soviet schoolchildren, who most often, while waiting for a 20-minute show of music videos, watched advertising blocks that sometimes lasted for 40 minutes without a break. According to a survey of 586 high school students in Moscow schools conducted at the end of 1991, the channel became the leader in popularity: it was watched by 34.16% of respondents. From June 1990 to 31 May 1992, the channel broadcast programs of the British Super Channel. One of these programs was Blue Night. Their share in the broadcast network almost immediately became impressive-one-or two-hour selections of video clips were broadcast (the program All Mixed hit parade SPIN WIN, made up of modern popular clips), thematic programs (music, fashion, sports), movies. Some educational programs were also broadcast, including those produced by the Discovery Channel, including "After 2000". Since mid-1991, the channel began to show the animeAST-2x2
The implementation of this project «TV channel 2x2» began in August 1995 on the basis of its own network of daytime broadcasting. This project provided for the distribution of TV programs from Moscow via a satellite communication system to the entire territory of Russia, the CIS countries, to places of compact residence of the Russian-speaking population (the Baltic States, Bulgaria, Israel, Cyprus). By mid-1996, several stages of the project were successfully completed, which made it possible to switch to broadcasting 17.5 hours a day, hard network programming, and form the basis of the network. The TV audience in Russia that received AST programs was 25 million people (214 cities and towns, excluding the Moscow region) and 24 million people in the CIS countries. After the closure of 2x2 in 1997, the «AST-2x2» channel did not disappear from the air and for some time showed news from TV Centre. In 1998, the «AST-2x2» was replaced by the «Prometheus AST» owned by Gazprom, which in 2002 (mainly due to the transition to2002—2007
In 2002 legal entity LLP Company «TV Channel 2x2» it was renamed to CJSC «TV Channel 2x2-Moscow».Справка о телеканале 2х2Since 2007
On 19 March 2007 2×2 became cool. Fragments of animated series were broadcast on the 2x2 TV channel, after which the time of airing was shown, as well as a promo with the slogan "Turn off the brain, turn on 2x2!". At the bottom was the inscription "channel demo". Periodically, it was changed to the number of days remaining before the launch of a new channel. On 1 April 2007, 2x2 was finally rebranding and the channel switched to a new broadcasting format. As a result, 2x2 underwent major changes: there was a change of management and staff; the logo and graphic design were changed. The channel began to position itself as "the first Russian animation channel for adults". The cartoons shown are translated or dubbed into Russian. Some of them up to 2x2 have already been shown on other Russian channels, for example, "2x2.Media
At the beginning of 2020, there was information about the launch of this platform. On 8 December 2020, the platform was launched «2x2.Media». The platform explores how pop culture helps a person "grow up". «2x2.Media» it is distinguished by a more author's approach to materials, in addition to news, the publication also publishes longreads, special projects and curated collections. «2x2.Media» tells how animation, TV series, movies, music, games and various forms of modern art have influenced and continue to influence Millennials. «2x2.Media» he will develop the main slogan of the TV channel " Don't grow up — it's a trap!", telling the audience in detail about how to "not grow up".Controversies and criticism
As the country's largest adult-oriented animation channel, 2×2 is prone to protest among various conservative and religious groups, and occasionally with authorities. Since 'animation' as a genre was traditionally viewed as exclusively children's media in Russia, 2×2 struggles with continually highlighting that its programs are not recommended for children. In February 2008, the Russian Media Culture Protection Department (Rossvyazokhrankultura), a regulatory body for TV in Russia, issued warnings about ''Programming
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