The suspension of broadcasting of some Russian TV channels in Kazakhstan, including Channel One, is due to economic reasons, as the contract for 2024 was not concluded due to the local TV operator’s debt, the official representative of Channel One. Worldwide Network in Kazakhstan, Irina Kalashnikova said, as reported by TASS information agency on January 4.
Kazakh television operator TVCOM earlier said that from January, it had stopped broadcasting several channels of Russian state-run Channel One.
“We did not reach a consensus for 2024, so the agreement was not concluded. The main reason is the operator’s debt,” Kazakh news outlet Vlast quoted Kalashnikova as saying. “In this regard, we were forced to turn off [the broadcast of TV channels],” said Kalashnikova.
TVCOM, a partner of the national operator of television and radio broadcasting in Kazakhstan, JSC Kazteleradio, earlier said that from January, it had excluded several Russian television channels from the broadcasting network of satellite television and Internet TV “as part of reducing the number of channels with an information agenda”.
Kalashnikova expressed hope that Kazakh viewers of Russian TV channels will soon be able to return to watching them.
“We hope that the operator will pay off the debt and we will be able to return to cooperation again. This year, the package of TV channels from the Channel One digital television family has been supplemented with a new TV channel, Lapki LIVE, without increasing the cost for operators,” Kalashnikova told Kursiv information agency.
