By Stuart Thomson
Channels from the Viasat World group will no longer be available in Ukraine after they were excluded from a list of permitted international TV and radio organisations compiled by the country’s broadcast regulator.
The decision to expel Viasat means that channels Viasat Kino Action, Viasat Kino, Viasat Kino World, Viasat Kino Comedy, Viasat Kino Megahit, Viasat Explore, Viasat History, Viasat Nature and Epic Drama will disappear from Ukrainian screens.
Distributors including the country’s largest cable operator, Volia, will no longer be able to include Viasat channels in their offerings, including OTT.
Volia recently added Discovery’s channels to its line-up, providing access to Discovery, Discovery Science, Animal Planet, Investigation Discovery, TLC, Eurosport 1 and Eurosport 2 to some customers.
The Ukrainian regulator, the National Council of Ukraine for Television and Radio Broadcasting, had earlier cited ownership of Viasat World and the fact that it gained a substantial portion of its income from the Russian market as lying behind its concerns.
Ukraine has sought to exclude channels with links to Russia from broadcasting on its territory since the Russian invasion.
Viasat World is not the only broadcaster to disappear from Ukrainian screens in the latest update to the list of permitted channels.
Channels Bollywood HD , Playboy TV , Gulli, TiJi, CNL TV, Museum, MyZenTV and TRT World have also been excluded.
