Latvia, Legislation, Markets and Companies, Telecomunications

According to the company, TV5 was one of the few television channels in Latvia that made informative programs in the Russian language. However, since the Russian language television market is very saturated, and the cost of making Russian language programs in Latvia is very expensive, TV5 has been operating with losses for a considerable period of time.

''TV5 has been making high quality information programs for 15 years – and we highly value the work the TV5 team has invested in the channel,'' Baiba Zuzena, the head of MTG TV Latvia, explains. ''The decision to discontinue this channel was a very difficult one for us, as we also have to break-up our long term cooperation with our highly professional colleagues who ran the channel.''

''However, in order to reduce the losses sustained by joint-stock Latvijas Neatkariga Televizija, this was a decision that had to be made,'' Zuzena added.

Zuzena added that some of the programs broadcast on TV5 will continue to be produced for other MTG TV Latvia channels.

Joint-stock Latvijas Neatkariga Televizija, which owns channels LNT, TV5 and Kanals 2 has been operating with losses since 2009.