TV RECEPTION A MESS? BLAME THE RUSSIANS

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP90-00965R000200810020-2
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 1
• Document Creation Date: December 22, 2016
• Document Release Date: January 20, 2012
• Sequence Number: 20
• Publication Date: January 8, 1986
• Content Type: OPEN SOURCE

STAT I
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ARTICLE APP &Di
ON PAGE
NEW YORK TIMES
8 January 1986
TVReception a Mess? Blame e usslans
By JOEL BRINKLEY
Special to The New York Times
WASHINGTON, Jan. 7 - Ever
since the Soviet Union began using its
new embassy compound on Mount
Alto, just about the highest point in
Washington, there has been no end of
complaint from American intelli-
gence agencies. But to some residents
of Glover Park, the neighborhood just
across the street, the latest develop-
ment makes the longstanding na-
tional security concerns seem trivial.
Even as the Russians' uninspiring
brick and marble buildings started
going up about 10 years ago, the Cen-
tral Intelligence Agency, the Federal
Bureau of Investigation and others
protested that the United States had
given the K.G.B. the best spot in the
city for electronic spying.
In the last several months, mem-
bers of Congress have complained
that the Russians were using micro-
wave receivers to intercept hundreds
of private telephone calls. And intelli-
gence officials say the K.G.B., the
Soviet intelligence agency, is direct-
ing laser-beam listening devices at
Government-office windows, eaves-
dropping on conversations by picking
up vibrations of the glass. In some of-
fices, the Government has implanted
tiny loudspeakers in the panes and
played music through them so that in-
stead of sensitive conversations the
K.G.B. hears Montovani.
All of that might seem pretty seri-
ous stuff. But consider this:
The District of Columbia is one of
the last major cities without cable
television. So hundreds of residents
subscribe to services that beam
Home Box Office, Cable News Net-
work and other cable channels to mi-
crowave receivers planted on their
rooftops. Reception is variable, de-
pending on buildings or other obsta-
cles that block the microwave signal
en route. But in Glover Park, recep-
tion had been nearly perfect - until
last month.
When one resident noticed that his
signal had gone sour, he called for
Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2012/01/20: CIA-RDP90-00965R000200810020-2
service, and days later the Marquee
Television Network, which handles
H.B.O. service, sent a repairer.
He looked at the television set,
noted the fuzz and roll and funny
wavy lines, and said: "Your signal is
being scrambled. I've never seen
anything like that before."
Then he climbed on the roof with
some electronic equipment, looked in
the direction of his transmitter, in
suburban Rockville, Md., and shouted
down to the ground: "I see where the
problem's coming from. It's that
white building just over there," point-
ing to the Soviet compound, and said
there was no solution but to end the
service. The subscriber was enraged.
Craig Howard, director of opera-
tions for Marquee Television, said:
"People all over that area around the
embassy are getting interference.
We've never had anything take our
signal and scramble it, blank it out
like that before. Over there, the em-
bassy is the first place you have to
point to." And an intelligence source
said, "They're working so many dif-
ferent eavesdropping devices over
there, it's no wonder."
But Boris Malakhov, a Soviet Em-
bassy press officer, said: "I don't
think there's any grounds for such
statements. The problem isn't com-
ing from here."
But suppose Mr. Malakhov is
wrong; suppose the K.G.B. does not
tell the press office everything it does
and its devices are scrambling
H.B.O. movies. What could be the
reason?
`The problem
isn't coming
from here.'
Boris Malakhov, a Soviet
Embassy press officer
In Moscow last week, a group of
Soviet officials denounced several
American movies, citing "Rambo:
First Blood Part II" and "Rocky IV,"
calling them "war-nography" and
part of an "anti-Soviet compaign."
Could H.B.O. be carrying movies the
Russians despise?
A glance at the service's recent
schedules shows it has been running
"Mom the Wolfman & Me," "Where
the Boys Are" and "The Trolls and
the Christmas Express," among
others. But no Rambo or Rocky films.
Besides, Mr. Malakhov said, the
Soviet Embassy compound gets
H.B.O., too, and "we're not getting
good reception either."
- "We have video recorders here,"
he said, "and we like to collect and
trade American movies. But we can't
do it anymore."
"When you find out what the prob-
lem is, we'd like to know."
Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2012/01/20: CIA-RDP90-00965R000200810020-2