New Russian TV channel set to focus exclusively on World War II

This spring, a new channel is scheduled to be added to Russian cable and satellite television packages. The “Pobeda” (“Victory”) channel will be distributed by the international branch of the state-owned Pervy Kanal (Channel One). Its purpose will be to display films and television shows related to the Second World War. That war is known in Russia by a term that translates roughly as “the Great Patriotic War”; simply saying “the war” in Russian without additional context refers to World War II as well.

The channel will debut shortly before the 75th anniversary of the Soviet and Allied victory in the Second World War, which will take place in 2020.

The general director [of Pervy Kanal. Vsemirnaya set], Alexey Efimov, is certain that there is significant demand among [Russian] audiences for stories about the war years. Recent box office numbers for films as well as ratings for federally run TV shows on this topic provide evidence for that claim.