Critical Mtavari TV to Shut Down as Journalists Announce End of Broadcast
Critical Mtavari TV will not resume operations, the channel’s journalists reported on social media today, April 28, with broadcasting set to cease altogether from May 1.
The opposition-leaning channel has been off the air since February 15, airing only soap operas and reruns in the hope of resuming full broadcasting one day.
But “today this last hope has vanished,” wrote Tatia Tsotsonava, the channel’s journalist, on social media today, April 28.
“And the day has come… I’m forced to leave the home I’ve belonged to since the first day it was founded,” wrote another journalist, Irakli Bakhtadze.
“The Mtavari channel will be closed, but a new one will emerge. This cannot happen otherwise, I believe and I know,” said Nika Gvaramia, one of the leaders of the opposition Coalition for Change and one of the founders of the critical channel.
There is no official statement from the channel yet.
Since the beginning of April, several of Mtavari’s anchors have moved to YouTube, with Natia Gogsadze and Tea Adeishvili launching On Time. Another Mtavari’s host, Eka Kvesitadze, launched International Accents as part of the larger Listen To Me channel on YouTube.
Tensions within Mtavari have surfaced in recent months. The channel and its general director, Giorgi Gabunia, have accused one of Mtavari’s co-founders, Zaza Okuashvili, of trying to shut down the channel and serving the interests of the ruling Georgian Dream party. The channel also claimed that Gogi Kurdadze, a director appointed by Okuashvili, had withheld payments to various service providers on Okuashvili’s orders.
Okuashvili, for his part, accused Gabunia and Gvaramia of “financial manipulation” that he said drove Mtavari TV to “artificial bankruptcy.”
Also Read:
- 15/02/2025 – Mtavari TV Goes Off Air, Blames Co-Founder Okuashvili
- 30/01/2025 – Mtavari TV and Co-founder Okuashvili Trade Accusations Over Channel’s Operations
- 28/02/2024 – Mtavari TV’s Gvaramia Quits Management, Transfers Shares
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