The Dozhd TV channel stopped working in almost all Russian cities, including the capital. Regional cable operators, one after another, exclude Dozhd TV channel from their broadcast packages. What is the reason?
From January 28-29, 2014, the Dozhd TV channel stopped broadcasting in Moscow, St. Petersburg, Voronezh, Yekaterinburg, Novosibirsk, Ufa, Kurgan, Cheboksary, Barnaul and many other Russian cities. Operators do not report on the timing of the return to the broadcasting network of the TV channel.
The fact is that on January 26 on the air of the Dozhd TV channel the author's program “Amateurs” was broadcast. The blockade of Leningrad was discussed. On the air of the program, a question was raised to the guest writer Viktor Erofeev and TV viewers: was it worth it to surrender Leningrad, for the sake of the lives of hundreds of thousands of people? The subsequent poll of viewers on this topic aroused public outrage. A scandal flared up on the channel's website. The scandal occurred on the eve of the 70th anniversary of the liberation of the Northern capital from the blockade. Later, the Dozhd TV channel admitted the mistake and apologized to the public.
On January 29, the operator Dom.ru (Er-Telecom) announced the exclusion of the TV channel from the package of services, referring to the non-renewed agreement.
Akado has suspended the broadcasting license for Dozhd since January 30th. The official reason: "a significant change in the concept of broadcasting this channel."
Rostelecom joined the leading operators, starting the disconnection from Moscow and St. Petersburg. Representatives did not comment.
Representatives of "NTV Plus" explained the shutdown by concern for the audience. The message says: "When distributing TV channels, we must take into account the opinion of subscribers."
A number of regional operators in several dozen cities of Russia have resorted to such harsh measures.
Tricolor TV sent an official written warning to the management of the TV channel with a warning about termination of the contract unilaterally "in case of maintaining the incorrect content policy."
The day before the sensational events, the president of the cable television association, Yuri Pripachkin, advised all cable networks to exclude the Dozhd TV channel from the broadcasting network. His words are quoted by news agencies: “I was personally touched by a question and a survey regarding the events in Leningrad. There was a desire to turn off such information by performing censoring functions."
The press secretary of the President of the Russian Federation Dmitry Peskov also commented on the situation: as a viewer, he finds the question raised on the air unacceptable from a moral and ethical point of view, while the employees of Dozhd did not violate the legislation.
The State Duma factions also did not stand aside. The deputies condemned the poll of the TV channel, insulting the memory of the veterans of the Great Patriotic War. One of the parties is going to tackle a bill on the introduction of liability for desecrating memory concerning the events of the Second World War.
On January 30, the St. Petersburg prosecutor's office announced the start of an inspection of the Dozhd TV channel.
The Dozhd TV channel itself has not made any changes to its broadcasting schedule and continues to work as usual, including the live broadcast on the channel's official website.
