According to the results for the first half of this year, the Suspilne Ukraine TV channels — Pershyi TV Channel, Suspilne Kultura TV Channel, Suspilne Sport TV Channel and the network of local channels — increased their combined audience share by 29%, from 2.69% to 3.46% (target audience aged 18+, towns with a population of 50,000 or more, where TV viewing is measured — here and below, unless otherwise stated) compared with the first half of 2025. Audience share of Pershyi TV Channel, Suspilne Kultura TV Channel, Suspilne Sport TV Channel in the first half of 2026, rose by 13%, 35% and 52% respectively.
Every Suspilne Ukraine TV channel has moved up the television broadcasters’ ratings table. In particular, Pershyi TV Channel, with a share of 1.35%, climbed two places – from 13th to 11th; Suspilne Kultura TV Channel, with a share of 1.32%, moved up five places – from 17th to 12th. Suspilne Sport TV Channel, with a share of 0.79%, rose from 25th to 18th place.
The positive trend in the audience share of Suspilne’s Ukraine TV channels in the first half of 2026 was accompanied by an increase in the average daily viewing time: Pershyi — +4% (41→43 mins), Suspilne Kultura — +21% (36→44 mins), Suspilne Sport — +27% (31→39 mins).
The average monthly audience figures for Suspilne’s channels in the first half of 2026 were 5.5 million (Pershyi TV Channel), 5.8 million (Suspilne Kultura) and 3.9 million viewers (Suspilne Sport / Suspilne’s network of local channels) respectively (aged 4+ years, whole of Ukraine)*.
The most-watched programmes on Pershyi TV Channel in the first half of this year were: the final edition (at 21:00) of “Suspilne Novyny” on 30 April (rat – 0.96%, shr – 3.16%), the episode of the “New Countdown” programme on 14 May (rat – 0.79%, shr – 2.78%) and the “Suspilne Studio” broadcast on 2 March in the 18:00–21:00 slot (rat – 0.71%, shr – 2.47%).
“These figures are, first and foremost, the result of the daily efforts of our entire team. Behind them are the people who work every day to ensure we are responsive, accurate and useful to our audience.
We are grateful to our viewers for their trust: it is thanks to this trust that we are able not only to retain the attention of our regular audience, but also to attract new viewers. At the same time, we do not view this result as the final goal — on the contrary, it is an incentive to develop further, become even stronger and improve the quality of our content every day,” said Artem Shelkovyi, Director of the Linear News Broadcasting Department at Suspilne Ukraine.
On the Suspilne Kultura TV channel, the most-watched programmes over the past six months were live broadcasts related to the Eurovision Song Contest: the Eurovision 2026 Final (rat – 2.77%, shr – 16.45%), the second Eurovision semi-final featuring Leleka (rat – 1.99%, shr – 9.24%), the First Semi-Final of Eurovision (rat – 1.39%, shr – 6.97%) and the Eurovision 2026 Pre-Show on 16 May 2026 (rat – 1.27%, shr – 4.34%).
“The achievements of the first half of the year are the result of many years of systematic work by a professional team and a shared vision for the channel’s development. Step by step, we are refining our programming policy, carefully analysing the audience’s needs, and working to improve the quality of our content and broadcasts. It is precisely this consistency, mutual trust and the sense of responsibility of every team member that enable us to achieve results and move forward with confidence,” — said Olena Tovstenko, Director of the Programming Department within the Licensing and Programming Directorate at Suspilne. — “I am sincerely grateful to all my colleagues for their professionalism, dedication to their work and willingness to work every day towards our shared goal.”
On the Suspilne Sport TV channel, the live broadcasts of the biathlon events at the XXV Winter Olympic Games 2026 achieved the highest viewing figures: Pursuit Race. Women (rat – 1.51%, shr – 6.49%); Pursuit. Men (rat – 1.51%, shr – 7.29%); Relay. Women (rat – 1.46%, shr – 9.57%).
“2026 is packed with major sporting events, which we are following alongside Suspilne Sport viewers across all platforms. The busy winter season, which culminated in the Winter Olympic and Paralympic Games, has smoothly transitioned into the summer sporting season, where we are all supporting Ukrainian athletes and the Ukrainian national teams across various sports,” — says Oleksii Mandziy, head of Suspilne’s sports division. — “As before, Suspilne Sport’s focus remains firmly on the performances of Ukrainian athletes at domestic and international competitions. This year, we are producing even more Ukrainian tournaments, particularly in athletics – and we can see just how important and necessary this format is to our audience, so we will continue to move in this direction.”
Suspilne Ukraine is an independent media company with a strong presence across all platforms: the TV channels Pershyi, Suspilne Kultura, Suspilne Sport, and a national network of local channels; the radio stations Ukrainske Radio, Radio Promin, Radio Kultura, Radiotochka. Find only verified news on suspilne.media, as well as on our national and local digital platforms. We broadcast in minority languages, represent Ukraine at the Eurovision Song Contest, develop the children’s platform Brobaks, and train media professionals through the Public Media Academy. Our Suspilne Mediateka platform offers unique video and audio archives dating from the 1920s to today. Defending freedom in Ukraine.
*Estimate for the whole of Ukraine based on viewing figures in towns and cities with a population of 50,000 or more, and on the ‘Television Audience in Ukraine’ baseline study by the Kyiv International Institute of Sociology (KIIS) regarding the ratio of TV audiences in towns and cities with a population of 50,000 or more to those with fewer than 50,000.
