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Since early May 2022, Detector Media has been collecting information about people appearing on the United News telethon (see summaries for May, June, July, August, September, October, November, and December 2022; January, February, March, April, May, June, July, October, November, and December 2023; January, February, March, April, May, June, July, August, September, October, November, and December 2024; and January, March, May, June, July, August, September, October, November, and December 2025).
On May 21, 2024, Suspilne’s Pershyi Channel withdrew from the joint telethon while remaining part of the United News project in accordance with a decision by the National Security and Defense Council. It began broadcasting independently, which is why we assess it separately, comparing it with the United News marathon.
In the first month of the new year, Suspilne held 1,378 conversations with guests — slightly fewer than in the last month of the previous year (1,425). That amounts to about 44.4 conversations per day. Over the course of January, the Pershyi Channel invited 729 different individuals to appear on air, meaning that on average, one person appeared 1.89 times during the month.
In January, United News conducted 1,018 interviews — noticeably fewer than in December (1,248) — or about 32.8 conversations per day. Guest editors featured 488 unique guests. On average, one person appeared on air 2.08 times during the month.
Accordingly, in January, the Pershyi Channel once again conducted more interviews and provided a greater diversity of voices.
Number of Guests on Air in the United News Telethon and on Pershyi Channel,
January 2026
Traditionally, the problem of women’s representation persists. On Suspilne, women were guests in 22.4% of interviews. On the United News marathon, only 14.9% of live segments featured women.
Number of Unique Guests on Air in the United News Telethon and on Pershyi Channel,
January 2026
The most frequent guest of the marathon in January remained Oleksandr Tolokonnikov, Deputy Head of the Dnipropetrovsk Regional Military Administration, who was invited on air 21 times. Border Guard spokesperson Andrii Demchenko and Kateryna Pop, spokesperson for the Kyiv City Military Administration — a new figure among the marathon’s leading guests — were each invited 16 times. Ivan Fedorov, Head of the Zaporizhzhia Regional Military Administration, appeared 15 times. Political commentators Volodymyr Fesenko and Petro Oleshchuk, the most frequent non-official guests on United News, were each featured 12 times.
On the Pershyi Channel, Vadym Kushnikov, a commentator for Militarnyi, appeared most often — 13 times. Mykola Malomuzh, former head of the Foreign Intelligence Service, was featured 12 times. Three individuals were each invited 11 times: Viktor Trehubov, Head of Communications for the Joint Forces grouping; Vladyslav Voloshyn, spokesperson for the Southern Defense Forces; and Serhii Nahorniak, an MP from Servant of the People and head of the Subcommittee on Energy Saving and Energy Efficiency.
Most Frequent Guests on Air in the United News Telethon and on Pershyi Channel,
January 2026, Guests are ranked by the total number of appearances across both the telethon and Pershyi.
The new year did not change the marathon’s old political habits: once again, no representatives of European Solidarity were invited. At the same time, there were 25 broadcasts featuring Servant of the People MPs — the lowest number recorded during our monitoring. This sharp decrease in the number of politicians likely relates to the so-called “parliamentary TV channel” Rada leaving the marathon on December 29.
One might have expected that the reduced presence of the ruling party would shift the balance among political forces toward greater pluralism, but that did not happen — opposition representatives were also invited less frequently. Six times. A total of six. Meanwhile, the Office of the President alone appeared eleven times over the month.
Suspilne did not host any studio segments with representatives of the Office of the President, but it invited Servant of the People MPs 58 times. Representatives of European Solidarity, Holos, and Batkivshchyna also appeared — in total slightly more often than the ruling party.
Presence of Political Party Representatives on Air in the United News Telethon and on Pershyi Channel,
January 2026
Presence of Politicians on Air in the United News Telethon and on Pershyi Channel,
January 2026
For what may be the first time during our monitoring, the thematic focus on Suspilne has shifted. International politics still received the most attention — 25.6% of airtime. However, amid Russian attacks on infrastructure, the humanitarian situation ranked second, accounting for 21.9%. Military operations followed with 20.8% of airtime. Less time was devoted to other topics, including Ukrainian politics, which was covered in 158 broadcasts.
On the United News marathon, politics was discussed more often than before — as many as 16 segments, meaning roughly every other day. Military operations accounted for 34.7% of airtime, while international relations made up 19.3%. Approximately 15% of interviews were devoted to social and humanitarian issues, respectively.
