Ukraine Today was a Ukraine-based private

English language English is a West Germanic language of the Indo-European language family, with its earliest forms spoken by the inhabitants of early medieval England. It is named after the Angles, one of the ancient Germanic peoples that migrated to the is ...

satellite television channel, then

webcast A webcast is a media presentation distributed over the Internet using streaming media technology to distribute a single content source to many simultaneous listeners/viewers. A webcast may either be distributed live or on demand. Essentially, web ...

ing service. The channel, which was owned by the Ukrainian

1+1 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number representing a single or the only entity. 1 is also a numerical digit and represents a single unit of counting or measurement. For example, a line segment of ''unit length'' is a line segment of length 1 ...

group and headquartered in

Kyiv Kyiv, also spelled Kiev, is the capital and most populous city of Ukraine. It is in north-central Ukraine along the Dnieper, Dnieper River. As of 1 January 2021, its population was 2,962,180, making Kyiv the List of European cities by populat ...

, presented round-the-clock news bulletins aimed at the overseas news market. The General Producer was Tetiana Pushnova. In April 2016 it was announced that satellite broadcasting would be stopped, to become an online-only service. Prior to that it was an international satellite television channel. On 26 December 2016, it was announced that its parent company 1+1 was shutting down the online service on 1 January 2017.

History

In the midst of the

Revolution of Dignity The Revolution of Dignity ( uk, Революція гідності, translit=Revoliutsiia hidnosti) also known as the Maidan Revolution or the Ukrainian Revolution,

and

Euromaidan Euromaidan (; uk, Євромайдан, translit=Yevromaidan, lit=Euro Square, ), or the Maidan Uprising, was a wave of Political demonstration, demonstrations and civil unrest in Ukraine, which began on 21 November 2013 with large protes ...

, which saw major political change in Ukraine, as well as a surge of perceived anti-Ukraine propaganda from Russia, and in particular from channel RT, Ukrainian oligarch

Ihor Kolomoyskiy Ihor Valeriyovych Kolomoyskyi ( uk, Ігор Валерійович Коломойський, translit=Ihor Valereriyovych Kolomoyskyi; he, איגור קולומויסקי; born 13 February 1963) is a Ukrainian-born billionaire, business magn ...

, owner of one of the largest media groups in Ukraine,

1+1 Group 1+1 Media Group (doing business as TRK «Studiia 1+1», LLC, uk, ТОВ «ТРК „Студія 1+1“») is one of the largest media conglomerates in Ukraine. The General Director of the Group is Yaroslav Pakholchuk. Structure 1+1 Media Group ...

, switched the focus of his first 24-hour news channel from

Jewish Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...

matters to Ukraine, before relaunching as Ukraine Today. Kolomoyskyi stated that "Ukraine Today is our contribution in support of Ukraine's European choice".

Previous ventures

The channel has its origins in two previous English-language news channels owned by 1+1 Media and its majority shareholder Ukrainian oligarch

Ihor Kolomoyskyi Ihor Valeriyovych Kolomoyskyi ( uk, Ігор Валерійович Коломойський, translit=Ihor Valereriyovych Kolomoyskyi; he, איגור קולומויסקי; born 13 February 1963) is a Ukrainian-born billionaire, business magn ...

; Jewish News 1, which closed on 22 April 2014, and the intermediary channel Ukraine News 1 which closed in June 2014. Ten journalists of Jewish News 1 then moved over the new channel.

Launch of Ukraine Today

Ukraine Today began broadcasting on 14 August 2014, with a live stream on

YouTube YouTube is a global online video platform, online video sharing and social media, social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by ...

and broadcast via the Eutelsat Hot Bird satellite, displaying a testcard and scrolling text giving information on how to receive the channel. The channel officially launched on Ukrainian Independence Day, 24 August when it began broadcasting news content. In 2014 Ukraine Today was operated by the

UNIAN The UNIAN or Ukrainian Independent Information Agency of News ( uk, Українське Незалежне Інформаційне Агентство Новин, УНІАН, translit=Ukrayins'ke Nezalezhne Informatsiyne Ahentstvo Novyn) is a ...

TV company. In September 2014 Ukraine Today moved programming to a fully functioning studio, with presenters and interviews, following the original plans. In October 2015 Ukraine Today launched in English on the

Virgin Media Virgin Media is a British telecommunications company which provides telephone, Cable television, television and Internet access, internet services in the United Kingdom. Its headquarters are at Green Park in Reading, Berkshire, Reading, Engla ...

platform, alongside its sister channel 1+1 International, being the first Ukrainian TV channels to broadcast to the United Kingdom. The Ukrainian embassy in London then joined the channel in 'officially launching' in the UK that December. It was already available in Italy, Germany, Netherlands, Belgium, Spain, and in Washington D.C. on the

MHz Networks MHz Networks is an American public broadcaster that specializes in international television programming. Washington, D.C., broadcast operations MHz (pronounced "M-H-Z") Networks began as a project of the Commonwealth Public Broadcasting Corpora ...

cable system.

Closure

Less than a year later, in April 2016, it was announced that satellite broadcasting of Ukraine Today would be stopped as a cost saving measure. It would move to being an online-only service. On 26 December 2016, it was announced that the online-only service would be shut down on 1 January 2017. In its final press release Ukraine Today stated its "main purpose was to counter information war waged on Ukraine by Russian propaganda media outlets" and that it had "fulfilled its mission". Most of the staff, including Ukraine Today's Tom Bell, moved to the Ukrainian broadcaster UA TV.

Format

According to the channel, its primary focus is on Ukrainian current affairs, with additional editorial focuses including EU expansion and integration, Russian relations with Europe and America, the defence of European values in both Ukraine and within the EU itself, and the challenges of nation-building in the 21st century. Ukraine Today started broadcasting

Euronews Euronews (styled on-air in lowercase as euronews) is a European television news network, headquartered in Lyon, France. The network began broadcasting on 1 January 1993 and covers world news from a European perspective. The majority of Eurone ...

style content on 14 August 2014.

References

External links

*
1+1 Media Group page

Ukraine Today
on VKontakte
Ukraine Today presented to British audience
{{1+1 Media Group Defunct television stations in Ukraine Television channels and stations established in 2014 Television channels and stations disestablished in 2016 2014 establishments in Ukraine 2016 disestablishments in Ukraine Companies based in Kyiv 1+1 Media Group