Kavkasia TV Claims Some Firms ‘Forced’ to Pull Ads

Three firms have already withdrawn advertisements from Kavkasia TV as a result of pressure from the authorities, the television station has claimed.

Nino Jangirashvili, director of the TV station, which covers the capital city, said some businesses with ads on the channel were under pressure from the financial police – a unit within the Revenue Service – to pull their ads. She said although the scale of ad withdrawal had not reached such a level as to threaten the TV station’s operation, the trend in itself was “alarming.”

“We have learnt that some businessmen were summoned by the Financial Police, where they were told to destroy them [Kavkasia TV], and then they [the businessmen] called us to cancel their contracts,” Jangirashvili told Civil.Ge on June 27. “This is a fact and it’s alarming.” 

She declined to reveal which companies had pulled ads, but said the channel was trying to convince them to give an interview. She also said that the TV station would hold a news conference on the matter on Monday.

Jangirashvili also said that the TV station’s popularity had increased since last November, which was followed by “a significant increase” in ad contracts from February.

Kavkasia TV is currently the only television station that airs political talk show every evening and is seen as a main platform for the opposition.

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