Primetime, the popular bi-weekly talk-show aired by Rustavi 2 TV and hosted by Inga Grigolia, has been formally closed down, four months after it was “temporarily suspended.”
Grigolia told the Georgian daily Rezonansi in an interview published on September 16 that she had been informed by the production firm TBC TV that Rustavi 2 TV would no longer buy the talk show, citing financial problems. Grigolia said she doubted it was the real reason, claiming that her program, although “costly,” was popular and advertisement slots were the most expensive.
Primetime, produced by TBC TV studio which had a one-year contract with Rustavi 2 TV to air its production twice a week, was suspended in early June. Rustavi 2 TV said the talk-show was in time conflict with the European football championship and would resume in late June after EURO 2008 was over. The suspension of the talk-show prompted speculation that the program had been cancelled. The resumption was again postponed after the end of EURO 2008, this time, the station said, because of summer holidays.
Currently, there is no political talkshow on any national TV station. The Georgian Public Broadcaster’s bi-weekly program Comment of the Day was also suspended, also because of summer holidays, originally till September, but the program has yet to resume.
Only a small, Tbilisi-based TV station, Kavkasia TV, which only covers the capital city, runs a daily talk-show, which serves as a platform for the opposition.
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