Aliaksei Dzikavitski: «At least a quarter of Belarusians watch satellite television»
- 18.10.2007, 10:54
Finally a private Belarusian TV channel “Belsat” will appear in the television zone of Belarus. The channel which will start broadcast on December 10 will be available for owners of satellites set up for “Astra” and “Sirius” TV channels.
“The basic concept of the channel is independence and objectivity,” one of “Belsat” administrators, head of news service Aliaksei Dzikavitski says. “The channel will broadcast solely in Belarusian. This is our firm position.”
“Belsat” will appear as a contrast to the state Belarusian TV channels: we shall talk about the things that are never mentioned on BT (Belarusian Television) channel. We plan to present information which will never appear on BT, ONT (All-nation Television), STV (Capital Television), or which will be perverted by the state media. But unlike the state channels that promote only one political line, we shall cover different political opinions. Different views and positions will be presented in the programmes and reports of “Belsat”, we shall broadcast high quality material from Europe. But basically, it will be a channel about Belarus and for Belarusians.
The initiative of launching “Belsat” belongs to the Polish Foreign Ministry and was supported by EU countries. Poland gives funds for the project, the broadcast will be maintained from Warsaw. For now, Polish tax payers have paid $ 5 mln for the possibility to watch the private Belarusian channel. But in future, Poland expects to get financial aid from the USA.
In reply to whether “Belsat” will represent exclusively Poland’s view on the situation in Belarus, Aliaksei Dzikavitski says: “This will never happen. The channel’s slogan is “Belsat - the television that Belarusians make for Belarus.” For example, only Belarusians work in the information service that I head. We have reporters in all Belarusian regions. As for Polish journalists, they are perfectly aware of the situation in our country, they deal with the Belarusian issue. Channel’s chairperson Agnieszka Rymaszeuskahad worked as a reporter in Belarus for a long time before she was deported by the Belarusian authorities.”
According to Aliaksei Dzikavitski, “Belsat” will be on air for 16 hours per day starting with the first day of broadcast. There will be four news programmes daily. Names of several major programmes are known already - “Guest of the Week”, “With Pagonia Symbol”, “Students’ Life”, “On the Border”; they will be 17 in total. We also plan to open an office in Belarus and get Foreign Ministry accreditation for “Belsat” journalists. This would allow the journalists work legally in Belarus and get official data.
“Belsat” will be available only with satellites set up for channels “Astra” and “Sirius”. The channel will be free of charge.
The satellite television in Belarus has the audience of at least a quarter of Belarusians, since according to the statistics, there are more than 800 000 satellites installed in the country with more than 2 mln viewers. And, as “Belsat” staff deem, these Belarusians need alternative information.
Time will show if the plan works. Moreover, “Belsat” will start broadcasting very soon.