A forgotten spirit of commercial television? Co-productions between Finnish commercial television company Mainos-TV and socialist television



: Pajala Mari

: 2019

: Historical Journal of Film, Radio and Television

: 39

: 2

: 366

: 383

: 18

: 0143-9685

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/01439685.2018.1527063

: https://doi.org/10.1080/01439685.2018.1527063

: https://research.utu.fi/converis/portal/detail/Publication/36310661


Finnish commercial television company Mainos-TV co-produced
a string of documentary and entertainment programmes with television broadcasters
in the USSR, Czechoslovakia, the GDR, Hungary and Poland in the 1970s and
1980s. This article asks what motivated Mainos-TV, a commercial television broadcaster
in a non-socialist country, to collaborate with socialist television? Based on an
analysis of published and archival sources (e.g. industry documents, memoirs,
television programmes and press coverage), the article argues that Mainos-TV engaged
with socialist television to secure its position at a time when the operation
of commercial television was still quite restricted. Finnish foreign policy
placed great importance on maintaining good relations with the neighbouring
USSR. In this context, the leadership of Mainos-TV viewed its collaboration
with socialist broadcasters as a way to strengthen the company’s position.
International entertainment programmes and co-produced documentaries on social
and cultural topics offered Mainos-TV ‘quality’ programming that differed from
the stereotypical image of commercial television. Collaboration with Eastern
European partners was not purely strategic, however, as it also brought
influences from socialist television culture to Mainos-TV’s offerings.
Mainos-TV’s co-productions with its socialist partners highlight the largely
forgotten complexity of the history of European commercial television.

Last updated on 2024-26-11 at 13:14