Other events in Baltic States

Non-Latvian youngsters do not watch the Latvian public television (LTV) and the share of total non-Latvian audience reached by the public broadcaster is also small, according to the latest survey by TNS market, social and media research company.

The public TV channels - LTV1 and LTV7 – reach on average 35.1% of non-Latvian audience a week but account only for 3.1 % of the viewing time, TNS representative Martins Traubergs said during a discussion „Trends in the Latvian electronic media and the media market in the context of Latvian national security” on Monday.

He said that mostly elderly non-Latvians watched the Latvian public television channels but non-Latvians aged under 34 years hardly watched any LTV channels.

At the same time, LTV1 and LTV7 reach on average 69.6% of Latvian audience a week, accounting for 18.9% of total viewing time.

The survey about the first half of 2016 showed that non-Latvians preferred watching the Russian TV channels PBK, NTV Mir and Rossiya RTR while ethnic Latvians showed preference for the Latvian television channels – commercial televisions TV3 and LNT as well as the public television channel LTV1.

Both public (LTV1 and LTV7) and commercial (LNT and TV3) Latvian TV channels reach on average 45.3% of non-Latvian audience a week, accounting for 6.8% of viewing time, and 83.6% of Latvian audience with 46 % of viewing time.

Four most popular Russian TV channels reach 72.6% of non-Latvian audience a week, accounting for 41.7.8% of viewing time, and 47.6% of Latvian audience with 12.3% of viewing time.

Experts participating in the disscussion said that banning Russian TV channels in Latvia was not a solution. In order to reach the non-Latvian audience in Latvia, one had to know which TV channels in Latvia were watched by this audience in order to broadcast on them locally produced content. News in the Russian language about events in Latvia and programs with practical advice might hold interest for Latvia’s Russian-speaking population.

One of the expert conclusions was that creation of a new TV channel specifically for non-Latvians would be irrational as suggested by Estonia’s experience. The TV channel created for the non-Estonian audience is watched by about 20,000 people, most of whom are ethnic Estonians.