Kyiv dominates the media industry and television and radio are largely based there, although
Lviv is also a significant national media centre. Most Ukrainian media outlets have private owners. Local governments also own local TV and radio stations. Until 2014 the state controlled a TV channel (First National) and a radio station (
National Radio Company of Ukraine), with only marginal market shares. By the end of 2014, Ukraine hosted 1,563 broadcast licenses, of which 1,229 were held by private stations, 298 by communally-owned stations, and 36 by state broadcasters. The decline in advertising revenues has left media outlets even more dependent on support from politicised owners, hence hindering their editorial independence. Paid content disguised as news (known as
jeansa, ) remains widespread in the Ukrainian media, weakening their and journalists' credibility, especially during electoral campaigns. Media ownership remains opaque, despite a February 2014 bill requiring full disclosure of ownership structures. In 2010, three quarters of the print market was controlled by six publishing houses. Two of them are foreign owned:
Burda-Ukraine (of the German holding
Hubert Burda Media, and
Edipress-Ukraine of the Swiss company
Edipresse. Four are owned by Ukrainians, including
Segodnya Multimedia Publishing Group by the
System Capital Management holding of billionaire
Rinat Akhmetov, and
Fakty i Commentarii by billionaire
Viktor Pinchuk (the son-in-law of former President
Kuchma). was founded by
Georgiy Gongadze in April 2000 (the day of the Ukrainian constitutional referendum). Published mainly in Ukrainian with selected articles published in or translated to Russian and English, the newspaper has particular emphasis on the politics of Ukraine. The most circulated publications are leisure and infotainment magazines. Newspapers, magazines and general audience mass media are usually owned by groups affiliated with political-economic conglomerates (
oligarchs), with serious repercussions on the independence and impartiality of the press. • Chanson, Sharmanka, Business Radio, Continent, DJ FM belonging to
Business Radio Group • Nashe Radio, NRJ belonging to
Communicorp Group • Russkoe Radio, KISS FM, HitFM, ROKS belonging to media holding
Tavr Media • RetroFM, Autoradio, EuropePlus, Alla belonging to
Ukrainian Media Holding Most radio stations have a generalist profile and broadcast mainly music and entertainment, with weak news contents, as they rely on advertisement revenues for sustenance. Era FM is the only talk radio station broadcasting (as of 2010). Ukraine has more than 10 main TV channels, with a fragmentation that preserves media pluralism although channels are biased in different ways and directions. Viewers choose a favorite bias or consume multiple channels. • The
National Public Broadcasting Company of Ukraine (UA:PBC) operates the
UA:Pershyi UA:Krym (Crimea),
UA:Culture,
UA:Ukrainske radio (Ukrainian radio) and 27 regional channels. Former Kharkiv journalist
Zurab Alasaniya, one of the founders of
Hromadske, was elected as a Head of Executive board of UA:PBC in April 2017 Ukraine's only digital terrestrial operator
Zeonbud was declared a monopoly in December 2014. It had been afforded an exclusive 10 year license in a non-transparent way in late 2010. As such, it is subject to reinforced governmental oversight. The 5 most-viewed channels in IPTV and OTT were the following:
Cinema Ukraine has had an influence on the history of the cinema. Ukrainian directors
Alexander Dovzhenko, often cited as one of the most important early Soviet film makers, as well as being a pioneer of
Soviet montage theory,
Dovzhenko Film Studios, and
Sergei Parajanov, Armenian film director and artist who made significant contributions to Ukrainian, Armenian and Georgian cinema. He invented his own cinematic style, Ukrainian poetic cinema, which was totally out of step with the guiding principles of socialist realism. Other important directors including
Kira Muratova,
Larisa Shepitko,
Sergei Bondarchuk,
Leonid Bykov,
Yuri Ilyenko,
Leonid Osyka,
Ihor Podolchak with his
Delirium and
Maryna Vroda. Many Ukrainian actors have achieved international fame and critical success, including:
Vera Kholodnaya,
Bohdan Stupka,
Milla Jovovich,
Olga Kurylenko, and
Mila Kunis. Despite a history of important and successful productions, the industry has often been characterised by a debate about its identity and the level of Russian and European influence. Ukrainian producers are active in international co-productions and Ukrainian actors, directors and crew feature regularly in Russian (Soviet in past) films. Also successful films had been based on Ukrainian people, stories or events, including
Battleship Potemkin,
Man with a Movie Camera, and
Everything Is Illuminated. Ukrainian State Film Agency owns
National Oleksandr Dovzhenko Film Centre, film copying laboratory and archive, takes part in hosting of the
Odesa International Film Festival, and
Molodist is the only one
FIAPF accredited International Film Festival held in Ukraine; competition program is devoted to student, first short and first full feature films from all over the world. Held annually in October. In 2009, there were 148 cinemas (273 halls) in Ukraine, with an annual turnover close to $65m dollars. On average, a Ukrainian person goes to the cinema 1.3 times per year. Cinemas income come mainly from ticket sales (55%), snacks and drinks (30%) and advertising (30%). Most cinema theatres screen blockbuster movies. In 2009 screening movies in
Russian language was forbidden by the government, angering cinema owners (as dubbing made movies more expensive and delayed projections) and Russian-speaking viewers.
Internet access is universally available in cities and main transport corridors, expanding into smaller settlements. The mobile cellular telephone system's expansion has slowed, largely due to the saturation of the market, which has reached 125 mobile phones per 100 people. As of 2011, Ukraine was ranked 9th in the "Top 10 Internet countries in Europe", with then 33.9%
Internet penetration and 15.3 million users; growing to 36.8% in 2012. Internet penetration reached 43% in 2014. As of 2011, Ukraine ranked 8th among the world's countries with the fastest
Internet access speed, with an average download speed of 1,190
kbit/s. According to
Freedom House, the Internet in Ukraine is "Free", in contrast to Ukraine's
news media as a whole which is considered to be only
"Partly Free". Aside from
web portals and
search engines, the most popular websites
VK,
YouTube,
Wikipedia,
Facebook,
Livejournal,
EX.UA and
Odnoklassniki. ==Media organisations==