News from and about Ukraine & Ukrainians  Ukrainian Community Press Releases

New York -- To the dismay of many in the Ukrainian community in the U.S. and Canada, not to mention the disappointment of UBN staff, Ukrainian Broadcasting Network has become the victim of downsizing by it’s parent company, SkyView Media Group. UBN's last appearance on the airwaves is scheduled for Friday, August 6th, 1999, after almost two and 1/2 years of satellite television, radio, and Internet broadcasting.

According to Jon Lunsford of SkyView, "We have just completed one of the most difficult and stressful periods in the company’s history. The size of the company has been significantly reduced both in Fort Lee and in the field. We are now focusing our efforts to support six services (Arabic, Chinese, Greek, Hindi, Russian, and Vietnamese)." The move to restructure is an effort to rescue some part of the media organization when company officials determined that their "previous business goals were far too ambitious."

SkyView’s future remains uncertain however, and more cuts in the near future are possible. In spite of the new business plan, the financial strains and requisite limitations in service may be setting the groundwork for dismantling the remaining infrastructure.

After 2-1/2 years of service, UBN’s presence in the Ukrainian-American community had become a source of comfort and promise. The East Coast morning radio program "This Morning With Us" with anchor Xenia Piasetsky and producer Oleksandr Pasternak rapidly became a popular source for news from Ukraine as well as local information. Journalist Zoreslav Baidiuk’s specials with in depth analysis were anxiously anticipated by all who followed the critical events such as the elections campaign in Ukraine. The work of behind the scenes staff and management Oksana Durniak (Radio Program Manager), Ihor Afanaseev (TV program manager), George Klapischak (Marketing Manager), Ihor Dlaboha (General Manager), and many others, did not go unnoticed. Each had a hands on approach and was very actively involved in bring the news to the listeners and viewers of UBN.

We at BRAMA-Gateway Ukraine would like to congratulate the UBN management and staff for a job well-done in light of the harsh realities of the financial difficulties suffered by SkyView. We know that the daily radio listeners, the television viewers, especially the sports fans, and those who grew to depend on the daily UBN website broadcasts will sorely miss the excellence in programming that UBN brought to all of us.

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