Teo adds Dozhd to line-up

Lithuanian service provider Teo has added independent Russian channel Dozhd to its programming line-up as the country mulls whether to impose restrictions on Russian TV services.

Dozhd will be available on Teo’s interactive and digital TV services from October 1, following approval by the country’s Radio and Television Commission. Teo will be the first Lithuanian national distributor to include Dozhd in its main TV package.

Teo said it expected Dozhd, which will be broadcast 24 hours a day, to be popular with the country’s Russian-speaking minority.

Dozhd has been struggling to survive in Russia itself following its removal from their line-ups by the country’s main pay TV operators after it aired a controversial poll about the siege of Leningrad – now St Petersburg – during the Second World War on its website.

Teo’s addition of Dozhd comes as Lithuania mulls the imposition of restrictions on the size and scope of Russian TV involvement in the country.

At the end of last month, Lithuanian president Dalia Grybauskaite called for Russian broadcasters to be restricted to 10% of the market, down from about 30% today, in order to curb what she described as “misinformation” and “hostile propaganda” from Russian media.

Separately, Teo will also add US entertainment channel Fox to its line-up from October 1.