TVi ( uk, ТВі) was a Ukrainian TV channel that began broadcasting in 2008; it was widely seen as Ukraine's only independent TV channel.TVi television channel stops broadcasting - source
korrespondent.net, (20 March 2015) It was known for its critical coverage of the

Ukrainian government The Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine ( uk, Кабінет Міністрів України, translit=Kabinet Ministriv Ukrainy; shortened to CabMin), commonly referred to as the Government of Ukraine ( uk, Уряд України, ''Uriad Ukrai ...

, particularly of President

Viktor Yanukovych Viktor Fedorovych Yanukovych ( uk, Віктор Федорович Янукович, ; ; born 9 July 1950) is a former politician who served as the fourth president of Ukraine from 2010 until he was removed from office in the Revolution of D ...

. In late April 2013 the channel changed ownership in a disputed

takeover In business, a takeover is the purchase of one company (the ''target'') by another (the ''acquirer'' or ''bidder''). In the UK, the term refers to the acquisition of a public company whose shares are listed on a stock exchange, in contrast to ...

. In early May 2013 the new management stated that they wanted to transform TVi into a mainstream TV channel (to be completed by September 2013). In March 2015 TVi stopped broadcasting because it had drained its financial resources. In March 2016 its broadcast licence was revoked.

History

TVi launched on 17 March 2008, and was set up by two exiled

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and Northern Asia. It is the largest country in the world, with its internationally recognised territory covering , and encompassing one-eig ...

n businessmenn:

Vladimir Gusinsky Vladimir Aleksandrovich Gusinsky (russian: Владимир Александрович Гусинский, ; born 6 October 1952) is a Russian media tycoon. He founded the Media-Most holding company that included the NTV free-to-air channel, ...

and

Konstantin Kagalovsky Konstantin Grigoryevich Kagalovsky (russian: Константин Григорьевич Кагаловский; born 13 October 1957) is a Russian businessman. He is the former vice-president of the oil company Yukos and a key Yukos shareholder ...

. They split due to a business dispute but Kagalovsky continued to fund TVi. According to Ukrainian

media watchdog Media may refer to: Communication * Media (communication), tools used to deliver information or data ** Advertising media, various media, content, buying and placement for advertising ** Broadcast media, communications delivered over mass el ...

''Telekrytyka'' TVi and

5 Kanal 5 Kanal ( uk, 5 канал, lit=Channel 5) is a television station in Ukraine formerly owned by businessman and fifth President of Ukraine Petro Poroshenko.Vitaly Portnikov Vitaly Portnikov ( uk, Віталій Едуардович Портников, Vitalii Eduardovych Portnykov; born 1967) is a Ukrainian editor and journalist. Biography Portnikov was born in 1967 in Kyiv, Ukrainian SSR, Soviet Union (modern-da ...

.Portinikov emerges as one of nation’s top journalists, offering fearless commentary

Kyiv Post The ''Kyiv Post'' is the oldest English-language newspaper in Ukraine, founded in October 1995 by Jed Sunden. History American Jed Sunden founded the ''Kyiv Post'' weekly newspaper on Oct. 18, 1995 and later created KP Media for his holdings. ...

(November 12, 2010) (Former) Chairman of the Editorial Board Mykola Knyazhytsky was placed at number 10 on the electoral list of

Batkivshchyna The All-Ukrainian Union "Fatherland" ( uk, Всеукраїнське об'єднання "Батьківщина", translit=Vseukrains'ke obiednannia "Bat'kivshchyna") referred to as Batkivshchyna (), is a political party in Ukraine led by Pe ...

during the

2012 Ukrainian parliamentary election The Ukrainian parliamentary election of 2012 took place on 28 October 2012. He was elected into parliament and Knyazhytsky left TVi immediately after.Список депутатів нової Верховної Ради

Ukrayinska Pravda ''Ukrainska Pravda'' ( uk, Українська правда, lit=Ukrainian Truth) is a Ukrainian online newspaper founded by Georgiy Gongadze on 16 April 2000 (the day of the Ukrainian constitutional referendum). Published mainly in Ukrai ...

(11 November 2012)

April 2013 ownership dispute

Oleksandr Altman Alexander is a male given name. The most prominent bearer of the name is Alexander the Great, the king of the Ancient Greek kingdom of Macedonia who created one of the largest empires in ancient history. Variants listed here are Aleksandar, Al ...

was officially registered on 24 April 2013 as the channel's owner but according to

, TVi's previously registered owner, the documents showing that he sold the station were forged.Ukrainian TV Station Staff Strike To Protest Takeover
Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (24 April 2013)
Staff strike at Ukraine's opposition TV after takeover

GlobalPost ''GlobalPost'' is an online US digital journalism company that focuses on international news founded on January 12, 2009, by Philip S. Balboni and Charles M. Sennott. Its stated mission is "to redefine international news for the digital age." ...

(24 April 2013)
Ukraine's only critical TV station silenced by ownership dispute

Reuters Reuters ( ) is a news agency owned by Thomson Reuters Corporation. It employs around 2,500 journalists and 600 photojournalists in about 200 locations worldwide. Reuters is one of the largest news agencies in the world. The agency was esta ...

(25 April 2013) The staff of TVi then went on strike to protest the change of ownership that they fear will undermine their ability to air news critical of

President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) * President (education), a leader of a college or university * President (government title) President may also refer to: Automobiles * Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ...

. According to press reports Altman, a Ukrainian-born U.S. businessman, had in the past worked as an adviser to

Energy Minister An energy minister is a position in many governments responsible for energy production and regulation, developing governmental energy policy, scientific research, and natural resources conservation. In some countries, environmental responsibilities ...

in the Second Azarov Government Eduard Stavytsky. (in April 2013) Altman stated his priority was to save the television channel as an objective source of information in Ukraine. 31 journalists resigned from TVi on 29 April 2013, they believed as TVi employees they could not anymore "guarantee our audience to provide objective and unbiased information". They (including Mustafa Nayem) set up a "web project in which we will do the same job".Найєм оголосив про старт нового проекту колишніх журналістів ТВі ''Nayem announced the launch of a new project of former journalists TBi''

(30 April 2013)
З ТВі звільняється 31 найкращий журналіст ''TVi freed 31 best journalists''

(29 April 2013) This "web project" eventually became Hromadske.TV.«Громадське ТБ»: «Все гірше, ніж ви думаєте, але надія є» ''"Public TV": "It is worse than you think, but there is hope"''
Телекритика (14/06/2013) Early May 2013 the new management stated that they wanted to transform TVi into "a full channel, similar to ICTV and

Novyi Kanal Novyi Kanal (Ukrainian: Новий Канал) is a Ukrainian television channel. The channel is a part of the Starlight Media broadcasting group, created by Viktor Pinchuk. History The channel was launched on July 15, 1998. At first, it was ...

(and to a lesser intend

Inter Inter may refer to: Association football clubs * Inter Milan, an Italian club * SC Internacional, a Brazilian club * Inter Miami CF, an American club * FC Inter Sibiu, a Romanian club * FC Inter Turku, a Finnish club * FK Inter Bratislava, a form ...

and 1+1)"; this was planned to be completed by September 2013.Нове керівництво ТВі хоче "посунути" ICTV та "Новий" ''The new leadership wants TVi "to move too" ICTV and "Novyi Kanal"''

(May 8, 2013)

Closure

On 23 March 2015 TVi stopped broadcasting because of financial problems. At the time the channel vowed to return next fall TV season. In March 2016 the channel's broadcast licence was revoked.According to the claim of the National Council of the broadcasting license Court annulled the TVi channel
Newsru.ua (March 9, 2016) On 10 October 2018 for two years tv channel resumed broadcast.

Reception

Reception of TVi was available throughout the whole country of Ukraine. TVi was available on more than 90% of cable networks in Ukraine. Having a lot of partner agreements with regional companies TVi was available Free To Air in

Kharkiv Kharkiv ( uk, wikt:Харків, Ха́рків, ), also known as Kharkov (russian: Харькoв, ), is the second-largest List of cities in Ukraine, city and List of hromadas of Ukraine, municipality in Ukraine.Dnipropetrovsk,

Zaporizhia Zaporizhzhia ( uk, Запоріжжя) or Zaporozhye (russian: Запорожье) is a city in southeast Ukraine, situated on the banks of the Dnieper River. It is the administrative centre of Zaporizhzhia Oblast. Zaporizhzhia has a populatio ...

Kryvyi Rih Kryvyi Rih ( uk, Криви́й Ріг , lit. "Curved Bend" or "Crooked Horn"), also known as Krivoy Rog (Russian: Кривой Рог) is the largest city in central Ukraine, the 7th most populous city in Ukraine and the 2nd largest by area. K ...

Mykolaiv Mykolaiv ( uk, Миколаїв, ) is a city and municipality in Southern Ukraine, the administrative center of the Mykolaiv Oblast. Mykolaiv city, which provides Ukraine with access to the Black Sea, is the location of the most downriver brid ...

Simferopol Simferopol () is the second-largest city in the Crimean Peninsula. The city, along with the rest of Crimea, is internationally recognised as part of Ukraine, and is considered the capital of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea. However, it is ...

Sloviansk Sloviansk ( uk, Слов'янськ, Sloviansk ; russian: Славянск, Slavyansk or ; prior to 1784 – Tor) is a city in the Kramatorsk district of the Donetsk region of Ukraine, the administrative center of the Slovyansk urban commun ...

Kramatorsk Kramatorsk ( uk, Краматорськ, translit=Kramatorsk ) is a city and the administrative centre of Kramatorsk Raion in the northern portion of Donetsk Oblast, in eastern Ukraine. Prior to 2020, Kramatorsk was a city of oblast significan ...

, and Melitopol. TVi was not granted a digital license in the summer of 2011; meaning that TVi would be shown through existing cable and satellite networks have access to about 45% of Ukraine’s population (while the selected channels will have more than 90 percent nationwide coverage) from the autumn of 2011.Oligarchs strengthen grip over TV

(August 19, 2011) TVi claimed that the reason it was denied a digital license is because of its critical approach to

Ukrainian President The president of Ukraine ( uk, Президент України, Prezydent Ukrainy) is the head of state of Ukraine. The president represents the nation in international relations, administers the foreign political activity of the state, condu ...

Controversy

In June 2010 a video was filmed of a vehicle parked outside the TV station monitoring its activities. When the three occupants of the vehicle were asked what they were doing, they hid their faces and refused to answer questions. They then drove off, driving through a red light. TVi general director Mykola Kniazhytsky accused the SBU, Ukraine's main security agency, of carrying out this surveillance. Reporters Without Borders has condemned this as harassment. In April 2012, TVi accused government officials of trying to disrupt and shut down the station. This was in response to tax officials allegedly probing its businesses relationships with entrepreneurs who fund the station. On April 25, 2012, tax officials delivered letters requesting contractual and other documents at the residences of at least three entrepreneurs that relate to their business dealings with TVi. Director Kniazhytsky accused the tax officials of 'bullying', and 'behaving like thugs'. In August 2012 these charges were dropped. Assessed at that time, one report noted relative to the station's independence that it has an editorial board that includes Poland's

Adam Michnik Adam Michnik (; born 17 October 1946) is a Polish historian, essayist, former dissident, public intellectual, and editor-in-chief of the Polish newspaper, ''Gazeta Wyborcza''. Reared in a family of committed communists, Michnik became an opponen ...

and, " ucially, says ... Kniazhytsky, TVi's owner has no other business interests in Ukraine."

TVi Europe

On November 22, 2011, TVi Europe was launched, and it was the first Ukrainian and Polish TV channel broadcast via satellite. The channel was broadcast in Ukraine and other European countries, and its billionaire owner

had reportedly invested $5 million into the new channel."Scrappy TVi’s European brother is born"
''kyivpost.com'', Nov. 24, 2011.

Programming

Every day TVi presented two 1-hour slots of the new production documentaries from National Geographic, AETN, Discovery. TVi produces 10 hours per week of own production that correlites to nationalwide Ukrainian channels:

Today

''Today'' ( uk, Сьогодні) was a news service programme that came on the screen on week days at 8:30PM and 11:30PM.

The Truth

''The Truth'' ( uk, Правда) was a daily talk-show with famous people about events of the day. The anchors were Ukrainian’s famous journalists

Roman Skrypin Román Skrýpin (born 27 May 1973) is a Ukrainian media manager, journalist, television host, a chief of the Ukrainian independent media union. Biography He was born on 27 May 1973 in Poltava, Ukrainian SSR of the Soviet Union. He is married and ...

and

Vitaly Portnikov Vitaly Portnikov ( uk, Віталій Едуардович Портников, Vitalii Eduardovych Portnykov; born 1967) is a Ukrainian editor and journalist. Biography Portnikov was born in 1967 in Kyiv, Ukrainian SSR, Soviet Union (modern-da ...

. The program was on-air on week days at 11PM.

112 Emergency

''112 Emergency'' ( uk, Оперативна служба 112) was a weekly show about accidents and crimes happening in Ukraine. The show came on screens on Saturdays at 8:30PM.

Exclamation mark

''Exclamation mark'' ( uk, Знак оклику) was a weekly journalistic investigation program about the most important incidents of the week. The anchor of the program was the famous journalist Artem Shevchenko. The show came on screens on Mondays at 9PM.

Black and white

''Black and white'' ( uk, Чорне та біле) was a weekly political talk show with a famous Ukrainian politician.

Taste of Europe

''Taste of Europe'' ( uk, Смак Європи) was a weekly political talk and

cooking show A cooking show, cookery show, or cooking program (also spelled cooking programme in British English) is a television genre that presents food preparation, often in a restaurant kitchen or on a studio set, or at the host's personal home. Typ ...

with Paweł Kowal, a Polish politician and

Member of the European Parliament A Member of the European Parliament (MEP) is a person who has been elected to serve as a popular representative in the European Parliament. When the European Parliament (then known as the Common Assembly of the ECSC) first met in 1952, its ...

. He talked with different famous Ukrainian people about

democracy Democracy (From grc, δημοκρατία, dēmokratía, ''dēmos'' 'people' and ''kratos'' 'rule') is a form of government in which people, the people have the authority to deliberate and decide legislation ("direct democracy"), or to choo ...

, European values, Ukraine's relations with

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populou ...

and integration into the

European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational political and economic union of member states that are located primarily in Europe. The union has a total area of and an estimated total population of about 447million. The EU has often been de ...

and

NATO The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO, ; french: Organisation du traité de l'Atlantique nord, ), also called the North Atlantic Alliance, is an intergovernmental military alliance between 30 member states – 28 European and two No ...

. The program came on screens on Saturdays at 11AM.

References

External links

Official website
* {{DEFAULTSORT:TVi Defunct television stations in Ukraine Television channels and stations disestablished in 2015 Television channels and stations established in 2008 Ukrainian brands 2008 establishments in Ukraine 2015 disestablishments in Ukraine Organizations based in Kyiv Mass media of the Euromaidan Ukrainian-language television stations in Ukraine Internet television channels Streaming television in Ukraine Commercial-free television networks in Ukraine Vladimir Gusinsky