Ukraine’s largest cable TV operator on Feb. 1 stopped showing BBC World News to its 1.3 million subscribers.
Volia said in a statement that it didn’t renew a
contract with BBC this year over a pricing issue. BBC had earlier provided
broadcasting rights free of charge. Volia added that it still shows BBC World
News on business-to-business packages and BBC Entertainment to regular subscribers.
In addition, BBC News is still available via www.bbc.com/news and the BBC Ukrainian website at www.bbc.ua.
“The decision was purely a commercial one as we
were unable to reach an agreement on commercial terms with Volia,” said BBC
spokesperson Ali Cowe. “As a result, Volia has chosen not to renew its contract
and has stopped showing BBC World News on its platforms.”
The cable TV operator now shows 16 news
channels, five of which are in English: Euronews, CNN, DW, France 24, and CNBC.
BBC World News had ranked 15 to 17 among them, according to Anna Mikhaelian,
head of public relations at Volia.
She said the most popular news channels, both
Ukrainian and foreign, are: Channel 5, TVi, CNN and Euronews.
Volia is owned by two private equity funds
managed by SigmaBleyzer, a private equity investor in Eastern Europe. The operator’s shareholders include Providence Equity
Partners, a fund that focuses on investments in media, communications,
education and information.
Kyiv Post
editor Mark Rachkevych can be reached at [email protected].
