TRK Ukraina TV channel saw a sudden boost in popularity ratings with the start of its much-awaited political talk show on Sept. 5 hosted by popular presenter Savik Shuster.
The TV channel, owned by Ukraine’s richest man Rinat Akhmetov, broke through to the third position with 8.64 percent of viewers, three places up from its usual spot, said GfKUkraine, a marketing research company. Inter and 1+1 retained their leadership positions with 21.38 and 14.37 percent of the audience, respectively.
The TV channel’s management said the show’s performance exceeded their expectations. It captured 14.55 percent of viewers, while the channel expected 12 percent.
Shuster moved to TRK Ukraina only about a month ago, signing a threeyear contract. He accused his previous employer, Inter, of attempts to interfere in his work.
“It’s my old dream to create my own production studio and to work with the channel like Ukraina on parity basis,” Shuster said at a Sept. 4 press conference.
He said the main reason for signing with TRK Ukraina was its promise of complete freedom for his newlycreated production studio.
Shuster’s new studio will produce a daily analytical program which will go on air at 7:30 p.m. and his trademark threehour long Friday night political talk show called Shuster Live. The biggest difference between the new show and the one he previously hosted on Inter is a complicated weekly polling scheme that will be used for both the weekly and the daily shows. The weekly show will choose a representative audience, and the daily program will monitor changes in people’s opinions the following week.
Leading sociology research organizations Ukraine Sociology Service, Kyiv International Institute of Sociology, Research & Branding Group and Public Opinion Foundation will be invited to conduct independent audits.
Savik Shuster Studios is a limited liability company with Savik Shuster and Pakistani businessmen Muhammad Zahur among the production studio shareholders.
“There is no political money here,” Shuster said. However, he refused to name other shareholders saying he would have to ask their permission first.
But experts said there is plenty of politics behind the scenes, regardless of who Shuster’s partners in business are. Riding the wave of Shuster’ popularity, TRK Ukraina and its owner Akhmetov is preparing for the next presidential election due in just over a year, they said.
“The new Ukraina TV channel project is directly related to Rinat Akhmetov’s desire to become an independent political player, separate from the Party of Regions,” said Otar Dovzhenko, the deputy chief editor of Telekritika, a media watchdog.
