U.S. inaugurates TV show for broadcast to Ukraine (01/17/93)

U.S. inaugurates TV show for broadcast to Ukraine

by Eugene M. Iwanciw
UNA Washington Office

WASHINGTON - In a broadcasting first, the Voice of America (VOA) and Worldnet Television inaugurated a Ukrainian-language news and features television program on January 9. Titled "Window on America," the 30-minute program is aired on Saturdays at 10:30 p.m. local time in Ukraine.

The program is the first regularly scheduled television broadcast by the United States in Eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union in a local language.

"This initiative will be an extraordinary step in our efforts to reach the vast area of the former Soviet Union, and it could be the model for television broadcasts in the languages of other parts of the world," said VOA Bureau of Broadcasting Director Chase Untermeyer.

"Window on America" is the result of an agreement between the governments of the United States and Ukraine. The initial agreement provides for airing the program on Ukrainian television for one year.

The program, anchored by Peter Fedynsky, attempts to integrate major U.S. and worldwide news developments with a series of features on business and entertainment, along with alternating pieces on health and medicine, science and technology, the environment and agriculture. The show will highlight American culture and provide its nationwide Ukrainian audience with information to better understand the United States and its people, including the Ukrainian community in the U.S.

The inaugural program opened with a news story about the signing of the START II treaty by President George Bush and Boris Yeltsin, followed by a story on START I and the visit of Ukrainian Deputy Foreign Minister Borys Tarasiuk and his delegation to Washington. In addition to covering the delegation's meetings at the State and Defense departments, Mr. Fedynsky interviewed Victor Basiuk, a national security consultant, about the status of nuclear weapons in Ukraine.

The next segment of the program dealt with a variety of news items, including the conflict between the U.S. and Iraq, U.S. humanitarian efforts in Somalia, President Bush's foreign policy speech at West Point, the new Congress, President-elect Bill Clinton's meetings on Mexico, and the deaths of Rudolf Nureyev and Dizzy Gillespie.

Yaryna Kalynychenko reported on the rollerblades craze with a brief history of roller skates/blades and how the fad is sweeping the nation. This was followed by a story on the newly discovered specimen of what scientists believe is the first dinosaur and a short feature on how technology is shaping the libraries of the future.

The business segment of "Window on America" focused on the functioning of the New York Stock Exchange. Even the issuance of the new Elvis stamp was included in the broadcast.

The program concluded with a report by Adrian Karmazyn on the Julian calendar celebration of Christmas at St. Andrew's Ukrainian Autocephalous Orthodox Church and Holy Trinity Particular Ukrainian Catholic Church.

* * *

Viewing the January 8 taping in Washington of "Window on America" was both exciting and enjoyable. The show is fast-moving, interesting and diverse. It effectively uses footage in its reporting. The show was not without humor and personal observations which gave it a human quality. Over all, it was well done and matches the professionalism of a similar show commercially produced.

The quality of the show is most remarkable since the producers, directors, and staff had only a matter of weeks from go-ahead to first airing. In addition, the production staff is about one-third the size of a commercially produced program's team.

An initial report states that a cross-section of Ukrainians who gathered in Kyyiv to view the program were pleased and impressed. The two stories that apparently attracted most comments were the stories on rollerblades and Ukrainian Christmas.

Voice of America is the international broadcasting service of the U.S. Information Agency (USIA), broadcasting in 49 languages to a weekly audience estimated in the tens of millions. VOA has broadcast in Ukrainian since 1949, and since July 1992 has been available via satellite throughout Ukraine on local network stations to a potential audience of 37 million.

Worldnet, the television and film service of USIA, transmits 24 hours of programming each weekday to 278 reception sites at U.S. embassies, cultural centers and cable and broadcasting systems worldwide.

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