| Pershyi Ukrainian: Перший | |
| Launch Date: | (first broadcast) (regular broadcasts) |
| Picture Format: | 1080i HDTV |
| Owner: | Suspilne Ukraine |
| Country: | Ukraine |
| Language: | Ukrainian |
| Headquarters: | Kyiv, Ukraine |
| Former Names: | Ukrainske Telebachennia (6 November 1991 – 5 March 1992) UT-1 (6 March 1992 – 6 February 1998) Pershyi Natsionalnyi (7 February 1998 – 7 April 2015) UA꞉ Pershyi (8 April 2015 – 23 May 2022) |
| Sister Channels: | Suspilne Regional Suspilne Kultura Suspilne Novyny Suspilne Sport |
| Terr Serv 1: | Zeonbud (Ukraine) |
| Terr Chan 1: | MUX-1 (1) |
| Terr Serv 2: | KRRT (Ukraine) |
| Terr Chan 2: | MUX-7 (47) |
| Terr Serv 3: | (Poland) |
| Terr Chan 3: | MUX-8 (95) HbbTV |
| Online Serv 1: | Web |
| Online Chan 1: | https://suspilne.media/news/schedule/tv/ (Ukraine only) |
Pershyi (Ukrainian: Перший, pronounced as /uk/; meaning First) is the Ukrainian public television channel, operated by the Public Broadcasting Company of Ukraine.
It is the only Ukrainian TV channel covering over 97% of Ukraine's territory. Its programs are oriented toward all levels of Ukrainian society and national minorities. Among priority directions of the network are information, popular science, culture, entertainment and sports.
It was launched in 2015 as the main TV channel of the newly created public broadcaster. The channel has replaced Pershyi Natsionalnyi (Ukrainian: Перший національний, First National), the state-operated TV channel that traced its origin to the Soviet UT (Ukrainian: Українське телебачення, Russian: Украинское телевидение, Ukrainian Television) and after dissolution of the Soviet Union, UT-1. The channel's anniversary has always been November 6, the anniversary of its first broadcast in 1951.
Pershyi is neither influenced by the state nor by Ukrainian oligarchs, which makes it one of the most transparent and reliable media outlets in Ukraine.[1] The channel has a series of journalistic investigations related to corruption in Ukrainian politics, including incidents that were related to the incumbent (at the time) presidents Petro Poroshenko and Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
In 2019, it was announced that the channel will change its name to Suspilne TV (Ukrainian: Суспільне ТБ, Public Television) as a part of rebranding process of the public broadcaster.[2] However, this idea was later dismissed by the Supervisory Board of Suspilne, who decided to keep the name Pershyi after the rebranding. The channel changed its logo and visual identity to the current on May 23, 2022.
Between 1991 and 1995, the logo was in the bottom-right corner and then (1995 - 1997) the logo was in the top left corner. From 1997 - 2022, it was in the top right corner. The logo returned to top left corner starting from 2022.