Ukraine TV continues to broadcast despite war
Ukraine TV powers on in spite of Russian attacks (representational image)
The Ukrainian version of the popular singing competition "The Voice," which is presently recording its 12th season in the country's war-torn interior, will require more than a Russian invasion to be stopped.
According to a Ukrainian delegation at the Mipcom TV convention in Cannes, light entertainment is essential during a war.
"Content is our weapon," Polina Tolmacheva, marketing director for the FILM.UA media group, told AFP.
However, replacing the sector's historically dominant cooperation with Russia is also a problem for its "young and energetic" TV business.
After hostilities started in 2014, Ukraine already reduced the proportion of Russian content; now there is a complete prohibition.
"Russian content is now unthinkable in Ukraine and we are not going to cry about it," said Tolmacheva. "We want to tell our own stories, with our values, like freedom."
After being put on hold during the invasion in February, TV productions in Kyiv and the country's west restarted two months later.
However, it won't be possible to equal its output from 2021, when 116 series were created and TV ad income hit $400 million.
Today, advertising revenue has decreased, government funding have been diverted to the military, and many professionals have departed and face the possibility of never coming back.
To attract foreign investment, a new campaign called "Ukrainian Content, Global Cooperation" has been launched.
And no matter how awful things are for TV in Ukraine, the small-screen market in Russia is in bad shape.
The majority of nations are rejecting its content, its delegates were barred from Mipcom, and certain shows are now prohibited domestically thanks to new censorship regulations.
(With inputs from agencies)
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