The majority of Lithuanians do not miss Russian TV programmes, but 14 per cent still watch them, according to a survey commissioned by the Radio and Television Commission of Lithuania.
According to the survey, four out of five respondents said they do not miss Russia channels in Lithuania. Among the young people under 29 years old, more than 90 percent of those surveyed said so.
At the same time, 14 percent of the respondents – mostly older people and those of Polish or Russian nationality – admitted that they had recently watched Russian TV channels broadcast.
Almost half of those who watch Russian TV channels broadcast said they do so on TV, 34 percent said they watch them via special websites, 27.7 percent via social networks, and 14.7 percent via satellite.
The social network YouTube was mentioned as the most frequently used tool to get news from Russian-language TV channels (64.3 percent), followed by Telegram (26,8 percent), Nastoyashcheye Vremia (Current Time) (19.9 percent), and Dozd TV (10.5 percent).
More than half of the survey respondents stated that they do not watch news on foreign channels at all. Those who do so said they most frequently use the British public broadcaster BBC (23.8 percent), followed by Euronews (18.8 percent), CNN (17.7 percent), Deutsche Welle (6.1 percent), and others.
These channels are more likely to be preferred by respondents aged under 39.
The survey was carried out in May by the market research company Kantar on behalf of the Radio and Television Commission of Lithuania.
Lithuania banned Russian and Belarusian TV channels and websites over war incitement and propaganda after Russia launched its invasion of Ukraine.
In April, the Seimas adopted amendments to the Law on Public Information, which banned the retransmission of programmes produced by companies registered in Russia and Belarus as long as they posed a threat to national security.
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