Start of Broadcasting Belarus TV to North America Was Not Caused by Aggravation of Relations with USA, Says Head of State TV

The start of broadcasting Belarus TV to North America was not caused by the recent aggravation of relations with the United States, Alyaksandr Zimowski, head of the Belarusian State Television and Radio Company (BSTRC), told reporters in Minsk on Tuesday.

“We did not try to time the beginning of broadcasting to coincide with any political events; it was a scheduled event under our Belarus TV development plan,” Mr. Zimowski explained. “Belarus TV would have entered the North American media market anyway, no matter what course international relations took.”

On March 28, Belarus TV, a satellite channel run by the BSTRC, started to be available for viewers in Canada, the United States, Mexico, Cuba, the Dominican Republic, Puerto Rico, and Guatemala.

Under a contract with the BSTRC, France Telecom transmits Belarus TV to those countries via Galaxy 25 satellite in a package together with Russian, Ukrainian, Azerbaijani, Armenian, and other channels.

The channel has thereby increased its constant audience by 10 million people and the number of its potential viewers by 90 million to some 220 million, according to Valery Radutski, director general of the channel.

The BSTRC’s plans include spreading broadcasting to South America.

Belarus TV was launched on February 1, 2005 for the purpose of disseminating “true” information about the situation in Belarus. Last year the BSTRC signed contracts for transmissions to Cuba, Syria, Moldova, and Kazakhstan. //BelaPAN