HOW A COLD WAR «VOICE» EMBRACED TELEVISION AFTER UKRAINE’S ORANGE REVOLUTION

DOI 10.17721/2521-1706.2025.19.4

Adrian Karmazyn,

Expert of the Ukrainian Association for American Studies,

Voice of America Ukrainian Service Chief, 2005–2015,

Washington, D.C., U.S.

Abstract. In this research article, Adrian Karmazyn, a former Voice of America (VOA) Ukrainian Service Chief, presents highlights of audience research that was used to help the service adapt to changes in the Ukrainian media market and audience needs and preferences in the first decades of Ukrainian independence.  Audience research indicated that besides strong coverage of U.S. and international news, Ukrainian listeners and viewers demanded more content relating to Ukraine and U.S.–Ukraine relations.

When the service responded to these audience preferences by increasing Ukraine-related coverage, transitioning from radio to television formats, improving the quality of its presentation and rebroadcasting of its programs on popular Ukrainian stations and networks, its ratings significantly improved.

This is the first study of this aspect of the history of VOA broadcasting to Ukraine.  The study is based on an analysis of audience research and includes important statistical data. This information, which is for the first time is part of a scholarly analysis, as well as the appendices, are a valuable resource for further study of the activities of the Voice of America and its Ukrainian Service.

Adrian Karmazyn worked in the Ukrainian Service of the Voice of America (Holos Ameryky) from 1987–2015. In the first part of his career, he served as a producer and reporter.  In November of 1999 he was appointed to the position of Program Manager (deputy director) of the service; in 2004 he was placed in charge of VOA Ukrainian television programming to Ukraine; and then he became Chief of the Ukrainian Service in 2005, leading VOA broadcasting to Ukraine for a decade. Since his retirement from VOA in 2015, he has been affiliated with the U.S.–Ukraine Foundation, the Transatlantic Task Force for Ukraine and the Council on Foundations. Mr. Karmazyn taught journalism courses in Ukraine in 2016 and 2021 under the auspices of the U.S. Fulbright Program.

Key Words: media, the Ukrainian radio and TV audience, the Voice of America, the Ukrainian Service of the Voice of America, U.S. government broadcasting, international broadcasting, The Orange Revolution, U.S.–Ukraine relations

Accepted: 31.01.2025

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References:

  1. Data drawn from various InterMedia research reports. (n.d.). Тhe VOA collection ( Typescript), the Ukrainian Museum-Archives in Cleveland, Cleveland, Ohio, U.S. [In English].
  2. Holos Ameryky VOA Ukrainian TV and Online Products: A Focus Group Study with Viewers in Kyiv and Odessa, October 2010, InterMedia. (2010, October). Тhe VOA collection ( Typescript), the Ukrainian Museum-Archives in Cleveland, Ohio,Cleveland, U.S. [In English].
  3. InterMedia, International Listening Among Ukrainian Elites. Elite Survey Research Memorandum, 1648/00, January 2000.(2000, January). Тhe VOA collection ( Typescript), the Ukrainian Museum-Archives in Cleveland, Ohio, Cleveland, U.S. [In English].
  4. InterMedia, International broadcasting in Ukraine, Audience Analysis and Market Profile November 2002. National Survey Report 2176/03. (2002, November). Тhe VOA collection ( Typescript), the Ukrainian Museum-Archives in Cleveland, Ohio, Cleveland, U.S. [In English].
  5. Letter to VOA Ukrainian Service from Oleksandr Bohutskyi (ICTV). (2014, May 15). Тhe VOA collection ( Typescript), the Ukrainian Museum-Archives in Cleveland, Ohio, Cleveland, U.S. [In English].
  6. Perceptions of VOA by Young Potential Listeners in Kyiv and Kharkiv, a Focus Group Study, January 2003. InterMedia, Focus Group Report 2170/03. (2003, January). Тhe VOA collection ( Typescript), the Ukrainian Museum-Archives in Cleveland, Ohio, Cleveland, U.S. [In English].
  7. Program Review document profiling VOA’s Ukrainian Service citing an October 2009. (2009, October). Тhe VOA collection( Typescript), the Ukrainian Museum-Archives in Cleveland, Ohio, Cleveland, U.S. [In English].
  8. VOA in Ukraine: A Focus Group Study in Kyiv and Lviv. November 1998. InterMedia, Focus Group Report, 1560/99. (1998, November). Тhe VOA collection ( Typescript), the Ukrainian Museum-Archives in Cleveland, Ohio, Cleveland, U.S.[In English].

LIST OF INTERMEDIA AUDIENCE RESEARCH REPORTS FROM THE VOA COLLECTION AT THE UKRAINIAN MUSEUM-ARCHIVES (UMA) IN CLEVELAND, OHIO, USA*

  • Reactions to VOA’s Ukrainian Programming: An In-depth Interview Study in Donetsk, Kharkiv and Odesa, March 1995, 1293/95 (Open Media Research Institute)
  • VOA in Ukraine: A Focus Group Study in Kyiv and Lviv, November 1998, Focus Group Report 1560/99 (InterMedia)
  • International Radio Listening Among Ukrainian Elites, Elite Survey Research Memorandum 1648/00, January 2000 (InterMedia)
  • International Radio in Ukraine – A National Survey: November 2001, Ukrainian National Survey 1943/02 (InterMedia)
  • International Broadcasting in Ukraine, Audience Analysis & Market Profile November 2002, National Survey Report 2176/03 (InterMedia)
  • Perceptions of VOA by Young Potential Listeners in Kyiv and Kharkiv, A Focus Group Study, January 2003, Focus Group Report 2170/03 (InterMedia)
  • International Broadcasting in Ukraine – Audience Analysis & Market Profile, November 2003, National Survey Report 2370/04
  • VOA Ukrainian Programming: Monitoring Panel and Control Listener Reviews, 3-6 February 2004, Listener Panel Review 2424/04 (InterMedia)
  • A Focus Group Study with Avid News Users in Kyiv and Lviv, Ukraine, January 2004, Focus Group Report 2436/04 (InterMedia)
  • VOA TV Focus Group Study in Kyiv and Odesa Ukraine, December 2004, Focus Group Report 2703/05 (InterMedia)
  • VOA Ukrainian Programming: Monitoring Panel and Control Listener Reviews, 10-13 January, 2005, Listener Panel Review 2700/05 (InterMedia)
  • VOA Ukrainian TV Programming – A Focus Group Study Preliminary Findings, February 2006 (InterMedia)
  • VOA Ukrainian TV Programming – Monitoring Panel and Control Viewer Reviews, 19-26 February 2006 (InterMedia)
  • VOA Ukrainian Programming – Monitoring Panels and Control Listener Reviews, 19-22 March 2007, Listener Panel Review 3251/07 (InterMedia)
  • VOA Ukrainian TV Programming – A Focus Group Study with TV News Viewers, April 2007 (InterMedia)
  • VOA Ukrainian TV Programming – A Focus Group Study with TV Viewers in Dnipropetrovsk and Poltava, March 2008, Focus Group Report 3470/08 (InterMedia)
  • International Broadcasting in Ukraine, Media Market Report, September 2008, 3588/08 (InterMedia)
  • Holos Ameryky VOA Ukrainian Television Programming – Monitoring Panel and Control Viewer Reviews, December 2008, Viewer Panel Review 3602/09 (InterMedia)
  • International Broadcasting in Ukraine, Media Market Report, September 2009, 3793/09 (InterMedia)
  • Holos Ameryky – VOA Ukrainian TV Programming – A Focus Group Study with Regular and Occasional/Potential Holos Ameryky Viewers, September 2009, Focus Group Report 3806/09 (InterMedia)
  • Holos Ameryky VOA Ukrainian TV and Online Products: A Focus Group Study with Viewers in Kyiv and Odesa, October 2010 (InterMedia)
  • Holos Ameryky VOA Ukrainian Television Programming – Monitoring Panel and Control Viewer Reviews, October 2010 (InterMedia)
  • Holos Ameryky/VOA Ukrainian TV Programs – December 2013–January 2014, Research Data Analysis, 25 March, 2014 (InterMedia)

OTHER ARTICLES ABOUT THE VOA UKRAINIAN SERVICE BY ADRIAN KARMAZYN

  • Some Recollections and Reflections Regarding by VOA Ukrainian Service Career (1987–2005), Ukrainian Association for American Studies website: https://salo.li/a408377.
  • Reporting for VOA in Newly Independent Ukraine – When Voices from Ukraine Became Essential to Holos Ameryky Radio Broadcasts, Ukrainian Association for American Studies website: https://www.adriankarmazyn.com/voa-memoirs/kyiv-1993.
  • VOA’s Ukrainian Window on the 1996 Democratic Convention – Ukrainian-Americans voice their opinions on politics, Ukraine and the community, Ukrainian Association for American Studies website: https://salo.li/51f1516.
  • Ukrainian Studies at Harvard – Highlights from a 1998 VOA Reporting Assignment, Ukrainian Association for American Studies website: https://salo.li/A225cbf.
  • Спогади та роздуми: дещо про мою кар’єру в Українській службі «Голосу Америки» (1987–2015) in Sharing America’s Story with Ukraine: The Voice of America’s Ukrainian Service 1949–2019, Ukrainian Museum-Archives Cleveland, 2020. https://salo.li/E10F453.

* The VOA collection at UMA also contains printed slide presentations with research data highlights and summaries from national audience surveys that were shared during annual program reviews of the Ukrainian Service.