TV-6 (Russia)
defunct first Russian commercial television channel launched in 1993 and closed in 2002
TV-6 (Russian: ТВ-6) was one of Russia's first commercial television stations that began broadcasting on 1 January 1993 and was closed on 22 January 2002.
History
1991-1993
Moscow Independent Broadcasting Corporation (MIBC), a Russian joint-stock company, was established in August 1991. Among its shareholders were Government of Moscow, JSC Logovaz, Mosbiznesbank, OJSC Lukoil, All-Russia State Television and Radio Broadcasting Company, Mosfilm and private persons Eduard Sagalaev, Oleg Orlov and Nugzar Popkhadze. In May 1992, the VHF frequency in Moscow (channel 6) was used to carry CNN International content two hours a day translated to Russian, using an interim license.
On 12 November 1992, MIBC won the competition to be allotted the sixth television channel frequency, ahead of the Russian newspaper Argumenty i Fakty and commercial radio station Europa Plus.
The same year, MIBC and Turner Broadcasting System signed an agreement to establish Russia's first private independent television channel named TV-6 Moscow, during Ted Turner’s visit to Russia.
Eduard Sagalaev became the first President of TV-6 Moscow.
Farrell Meisel was the Founding Director representing Turner Broadcasting on-site in Moscow.
1993-1994
TV-6 Moscow started broadcasting on 1 January 1993 for five hours a day (from 7 pm to midnight Moscow time), with 500,000 viewers in Moscow and Moscow Oblast (a federal subject of Russia). Broadcasting hours were extended to 10 hours a day by the end of 1993.
Begin with the source’s own compact description: “TV-6 (Russia)” is defunct first Russian commercial television channel launched in 1993 and closed in 2002. The dossier treats that line as a proposition to test through TV-6, Russia and defunct, not as a finished interpretation.
Why this record matters
The phrase “defunct first Russian commercial television channel launched in 1993 and closed in 2002” supplies a clear boundary for inquiry. It also exposes the unanswered questions: who defined that boundary, when it became stable and which sources sit outside it.
Object files, edition statements, performance records and contemporary criticism preserve different stages of the work’s history. The source revision retrieved here is dated Aug 26, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q2386094. 2 of 2 selected statements include explicit references; 1 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1993, 2002, 1991 and 1992.
Rights, attribution and provenance may remain disputed even when a general reference summary presents a stable account. The source lead contains qualifying language; that uncertainty should survive quotation, summary and reuse. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
How to read it
Separate the work, its editions or performances, and its later reception. Catalogue records, publication histories and object files often preserve different parts of that story.
- Identifying works and editions
- Tracing reception history
- Finding collection records
The original object or edition, catalogue raisonné, performance record, rights file and holding institution.
Three-step research path
- Establish the record: confirm the title “TV-6 (Russia)”, its source revision and the description used here.
- Expand the search: follow TV-6 (Russia) primary sources, TV-6 (Russia) archive and TV-6 research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
- Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.
Questions for further research
- Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “TV-6 (Russia)”?
- Where is authorship, date or provenance documented?
- Which edition, object, performance or recording is being described?
Search terms from this dossier
This entry incorporates text from “TV-6 (Russia)” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.