Lithuanian TV goes international

VILNIUS 's LTV, the Lithuanian national broadcaster, has launched its third channel, LTV World.

As the name suggests, LTV World is an international channel which can be seen by viewers in northern and western Europe, and later by audiences in North America.

Under the current plan, broadcasts of LTV World in North America will start via the Sirius 3 satellite by Nov. 1.

"As long as people care about what is going on Lithuania, they will be part of our nation and we will foster the hope that they might come back," said Kestutis Petrauskis, director general of the Lithuanian Radio and Television.

LTV World will broadcast about 11 hours a day - from 14:25 to 01:00 Lithuanian time. It will include a selection of programs from channels 1 and 2 of Lithuanian national television.

Considering the time difference between Lithuania and Western Europe, some programs on LTV World will be broadcast an hour later - for instance, the key news program 'Panorama' will be on at 21:30 p.m.

Future plans include round-the-clock broadcasts.