TV Pirveli, one of Georgia’s major opposition-leaning channels, said late on March 11 that its satellite broadcasting had stopped due to unpaid fees. The channel announced a fundraising campaign to restore broadcasting.
“TV Pirveli’s satellite broadcasting was switched off today due to financial debt. Satellite and free-to-air broadcasting involve large sums, which the channel was no longer able to cover,” the channel said in the statement.
The channel’s live programs remain available for online streaming and on pay TV platforms such as Magti and Silknet. The shutdown is likely to affect viewers in regions and remote areas, where such services are less available or widely used.
The announcement comes as broadcasters and media outlets not aligned with the ruling Georgian Dream party face a financial crisis amid political pressure and a series of restrictive laws, including a ban on foreign funding for TV and radio broadcasters.
In February, Trialeti TV, a regional channel based in Gori in eastern Georgia’s Shida Kartli region, said its satellite broadcasting was halted as a result of what it called “artificially created [financial] crisis resulting from systematic pressure by the authorities.”
In December, Transparency International-Georgia, a local corruption watchdog, reported that “17 regional broadcasters” halted operations in 2025 due to financial difficulties. The watchdog warned that other major critical broadcasters, Formula TV and TV Pirveli, are also facing financial difficulties and the “risk of closure.”
Mtavari TV, one of the country’s main opposition-leaning broadcasters, went off air in 2025 amid financial problems and internal disputes, and now operates only on social media.
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