Georgia: Tbilisi May Launch Caucasus-Wide Broadcasting

Georgian Public Television may start broadcasting into Russia's troubled North Caucasus area, the Kommersant newspaper reported on November 2.

Georgian Public Broadcasting, which already includes two television and two radio channels, is considering launching a new channel to cater to Russian-speaking audiences throughout the Caucasus, Public Broadcasting General Director Gia Chanturia told the Georgian Rezonansi newspaper on November 1. Saying that it was too early to discuss particulars, Chanturia declined to speak about the channel's format and programming.

Citing unidentified sources at Georgian Public Broadcasting, Kommersant wrote on October 30 that the channel will be broadcast via satellite into Russia "just as Russian channels are broadcast via satellite in Georgia." Following the 2008 Georgia-Russia war, Georgian cable networks stopped carrying Russian television news broadcasts.