TV Rain will no longer be able to continue broadcasting in Lithuania, as per a statement made by the Radio and Television Commission of Lithuania (LRTК).
“[TV Rain] was included in the list of programmes being retransmitted by TV programming broadcasters providing services in Latvia, providers of audio-visual media services on demand, available on the YouTube video sharing platform. After its broadcasting licence was revoked, the channel won’t be available in Lithuania either, starting from 8 December,” Russia’s media outlet RBC quotes the commission’s statement.
The licence gave TV Rain the right to “distribute the content produced in EU countries, Russia, the US, and elsewhere”.
On 1 December, TV Rain host Alexey Korostelev said on air, “We hope that we could help many service members, particularly with equipment and just basic convenience on the frontline.” Later, editor-in-chief of TV Rain Tikhon Dzyadko said that the channel did not, is not, and would not help out the Russian army with equipment, on the frontlines or beyond.
Korostelev was fired. As a sign of support, TV Rain host Margarita Lyutova, journalist Vladimir Romensky, and the channel’s employee Darina Lukutina said that they would stop their collaboration with the channel.
Latvia’s media regulator, National Electronic Mass Media Council (NEPLP), fined TV Rain €10,000 and later revoked its broadcasting licence. Latvia’s State Security Service recommended the Minister of Internal Affairs to put TV Rain’s ex-host Alexey Korostelev on the list of people banned from entry to Latvia.
Yesterday, 6 December, TV Rain’s CEO Natalia Sindeeva asked Korostelev and other journalists who had quit after his firing to come back to work.
