The Television and Radio Commission (TRC) has summed up 2021 and is going to submit a report to the National Assembly.

The year was quite full for the structure, it organized and held licensing tenders for the capital and regional frequencies, airtime monitoring related to the local elections, initiated numerous administrative proceedings, signed international agreements, etc.

Regarding the state of freedom of information in the field of television and radio broadcasting, the TRC reports that the democratic principles announced by the authorities in 2018 have allowed for pursuing an independent editorial policy.

Last year, the organization continued to “consistently defend the right of the media to freely express itself in its field of regulation, often also acting as a mediator between the media and state institutions in conflict situations.”

Licensing competitions

In 2021, the commission organized and conducted 12 tenders for slot licensing in the public multiplex, and 5 competitions for the use of auditory frequency. In its annual summary, the TRC informs about the competitions, stating that there were various pressures on the members of the commission, but such attempts did not achieve their intended results.

5 national, 7 capital and 10 regional broadcasting licenses were issued. 3 licenses were issued for audio programs in Yerevan and 2 in the regions. 11 applications were satisfactory for the activity of the network operator.

The live broadcast of licensing competitions is also mentioned as an achievement. Discussions and training were organized for the representatives of the broadcasters and network operators who participated in the competition, despite the limitations set by COVID-19.

They assure that equal competition conditions were provided for the participants of the competition, and the results were based on objective, impartial assessments.

Media research

In cooperation with industry specialists, the structure has conducted several research studies in the media market.

For example, they analyzed the structure and thematic directions of the national and capital broadcast programs.

As of December 2021, there are 65 network operators, 53 reputable companies, 22 audiovisual, and 23 audio programs operating in Armenia.

In 2021, 16 individuals and legal entities were authorized by the commission, and the application of 1 was terminated.

Administrative proceedings

In 2021, the commission initiated 85 administrative proceedings, of which 70 were on its own initiative, 15 according to the applications and complaints of individuals. 44 cases initiated on their own initiative resulted in fines, in 8 cases a warning was issued, 15 were terminated, and 3 are still in progress.

For comparison, it should be noted that in 2011-2018, as a result of administrative proceedings, fines were issued only in 15 cases.

On the other hand, as a result of proceedings adopted by the RAU, there has been a large increase in appeals against decisions made in court. There were 6 appeals in 2021, while in 2020, 2 cases were registered.

About 34 million AMD was paid to the state budget from various fines by the structure. For comparison, that number in 2020 amounted to 38 million AMD.

Advertising money from audiovisual media

TRC presented the revenues generated from advertising for 3 years, in order to be able to see the dynamics.

Broadcasters with national and capital coverage had 9 billion 914 million AMD in 2021, 7 billion 654 million AMD in 2020, and 10 billion 638 million AMD in 2019.

In 2021, regional broadcasters generated 1 billion AMD from advertising.

Only in the case of radio broadcasting was there a reduction in advertising revenues, if in 2019 it was about 2 billion AMD, then in 2021, it was reduced to 1.2 billion AMD.

Gayane Asryan