600 Seconds (Russian: 600 секунд; 1987–1993) was an immensely popular TV news program that aired in the Soviet Union and briefly in the post-Soviet Russia. It was a nightly broadcast from Leningrad TV with anchor Alexander Nevzorov.[1]
The program of the glasnost period was distinguished by its fast tempo and the display of the countdown from 600 to 0.[1] The anchor Nevzorov used the broadcast in order to criticize corrupt Soviet officials, promote preserving the Soviet Union (in the Baltic states, he is known as a fierce opponent of the people's independence movement). Later - during early Yeltsin years - the broadcast became a mouthpiece of Russian nationalist opposition to Yeltsin's policies and was banned twice - definitely after Yeltsin' victory in his conflict with the rebel parliament. The Letter of Forty-Two called for it to be cancelled.[2]