By 1991 mass media in the Ukraine was state only. After the collapse of Soviet Union and independence of the Ukraine a lot of privately owned media appeared.
Nowadays best media in the country are privately owned. The most popular TV and radio channels, as well as most readable newspapers and magazines are private. There are state TV channels, the biggest of which is Ukrainian First National Channel, but though it is the only channel which is broadcast in all parts of the country, its rating is very low comparing to the other channels. State channels do not have enough money thus their programming is very poor. At the same time private channels have what to offer to the viewer - they can afford themselves to create interesting and bright programs, as well as buy foreign TV shows and soap operas. Only on private channels it is possible to see Oprah's show or Ukrainian versions of "Big Brother", "American Idol", "Swan" or "Dancing with the Stars". Best journalists and "stars" are working on private channels only.
Though most media are private, this does not mean that they are "free and transparent". Media in the Ukraine are influenced by politics and every TV channel, radio, newspaper or magazine is somehow politically "colored". This can be explained by the fact that most influential media in the country are owned or co-owned by politicians or members of their families. Thus each medium represents everything from "correct" point of view, though major media try to hide this and give more or less unbiased information.
The only "free" mass media in the Ukraine are Internet media. Internet is not controlled in the Ukraine and thus Internet media can be called really free.
By saying that mass media in the Ukraine are politically controlled I do not mean that there are some kind of pressure on the journalists or something like that. In the majority of cases, point of view of the company coincides with the point of view of the journalists working there.
It is very easy to open your own mass media in the Ukraine. To do this you should only gather proper documents and register your piece as mass medium. But it is very hard to maintain it, as economical situation is not favorable.
