Origins and Ethos O2TV emerged from a generation saturated in contradictory signals: the collapse of Soviet ideology, the scramble for new cultural identities, a blossoming of subcultures, and the growing availability of cheap video gear and satellite distribution. Its makers were often young journalists, filmmakers, musicians, and activists who rejected both glossy Western commercialism and the tired aesthetics of post-Soviet state media. They favored immediacy, low-fi aesthetics, and a punk-ish directness.