02 May 2012, 18:00
TV Channel of oppositionist Bidzina Ivanishvili starts broadcasting in Georgia
"Channel Nine", where the co-owner is Ekaterina Khvedelidze, the wife of the leader of the oppositional coalition "Georgian Dream"businessman Bidzina Ivanishvili, has begun broadcasting in Georgia.
According to the coalition "Georgian Dream", the main objective of the TV Channel should be to support the possible Ivanishvili's election campaign.
Currently, the TV Channel is working in the test mode. During the day, it will broadcast three information programmes, as well as a political talk show and a political satire puppet show, the "Interfax" reports.
"Around the end of June we plan to start a full-fledged broadcasting; and it will be an information channel, the format will be similar, for example, to cable channels in America – Fox News, CNN Local and MSNBC," said Kakha Bekauri,Director General of the Channel in an interview to the Russian Service of the BBC.
At the initial stage, the TV Channel will be accessible to approximately 20 percent of the population in the regions via a satellite. However, so far only two providing companies have expressed willingness to include the new channel into their broadcasting packages.
