TV Pirveli owner and current director Vato Tsereteli has announced management changes at the government-critical broadcaster, saying a new “Public Advisory Council” has been established and naming Levan Jorbenadze, reportedly a former strategic communications head of opposition Lelo – Strong Georgia party, as the channel’s new director.
Tsereteli said he would head the newly established council, which he described as a body intended to increase “maximum openness and public involvement” in the channel’s development and day-to-day operations. He said the changes are aimed at bringing TV Pirveli to “a contemporary, more advanced stage” and introducing “a new media standard.”
According to him, the council brings together “authoritative representatives of the media, culture and public sphere – Irakli Melashvili, Dodo Shonava, Giorgi Mshvenieradze, Gia Khukhashvili, Davit Dzidzishvili, Irakli Apakidze, Zaal Udumashvili, Inga Grigolia, and Tamar Jincharadze.”
Tsereteli said that the council will help “generate new ideas at TV Pirveli, contribute to the channel’s development, and support citizens’ active involvement in the processes.” At the council’s first meeting, he introduced Levan Jorbenadze as the candidate for the channel’s director, “who will help us implement all these ideas.”
TV Pirveli’s longtime journalist and host Inga Grigolia welcomed Jorbenadze’s appointment, saying he is “a person with whom we, journalists of my generation and somewhat younger ones, have had a relationship over the years, because he himself worked in free media and knows well the value and significance of free speech.”
According to media platform MediaChecker, Jorbenadze had served as head of strategic communications for Lelo – Strong Georgia, a position he reportedly left one month ago.
The management changes at TV Pirveli come as government-critical broadcasters face financial and regulatory pressures. Under amendments to Georgia’s Broadcasting Law adopted in 2025, broadcasters are prohibited from receiving foreign funding, except for commercial transactions.
ComCom, Georgia’s media regulator, recently fined TV Pirveli GEL 5,000, marking the second such fine imposed under the controversial amendments that expanded the regulator’s powers to oversee media content.
In March, TV Pirveli said its satellite broadcasting had been suspended due to unpaid fees, with the shutdown primarily affecting viewers in regions and remote areas where online streaming and pay-TV services are less accessible.
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