Certainly, this applies to Kyiv’s main television cable operator Volia, and its U.S.-based co-owners – equity fund manager SigmaBleyzer and Providence Equity Partners.
Volia announced earlier this month that TVi – arguably the last television channel openly critical of President Viktor Yanukovych’s administration – would be moved from the standard package to a more expensive premium one. In contrast, oligarch-owned television channels with news programs that are friendly to Yanukovych’s rule, and the channel of Ukraine’s National Bank – itself headed by a presidential loyalist – have been kept in the basic package, which is third the price of the premium one.
The move will almost certainly decrease TVi’s potential audience. Currently, the number of subscribers of Volia’s premium package is around 80,000 – almost threefold less than the audience of the standard selection of channels. It’s the latest in the chain of bad news for the station that authorities are muzzling ahead of the Oct. 28 parliamentary election.
In the last two months, TVi has been shut off from the networks of almost 60 cable operators, prosecutors have harassed it’s general director with a tax investigation and the Economy Ministry questioned it’s right to pay for satellite broadcasts – without a special license. TVi’s management has launched a fundraising campaign asking people to donate money so that they could pay a court-ordered Hr 4 million fine to the tax service. The fine came after a Kyiv district court found the channel guilty of tax evasion.
Volia’s decision to impede TVi’s potential Kyiv audience further is a disappointing example of corporate irresponsibility. A cable company which makes its money off media should be at the forefront of promoting free speech, not stifling it. The decision is a betrayal of loyal customers by a management team that appears eager to please the authorities.
We call on the operator to be a good corporate citizen. If Volia doesn’t reverse course, its customers would have every reason to pursue other service options for getting the channels they want and deserve.
