On July 17th, six television stations operating in the public multiplex were taken off the air for an hour instead of airing their regular programs and films.

The broadcasting of “Armenia TV,” “A-TV,” “Shant,” “Dar-21”, “Free News,” and “Fortuna” was suspended by the Armenia Television and Radio Broadcasting Network (ATRBN) for an hour due to delayed payments.

ATRBN, operating under the Ministry of High-tech Industry, issued a warning to TV companies that they will face periodic blackouts until they pay off their accumulated debts.

A day later, nineteen TV stations broadcasting on the public multiplex issued a statement expressing their dissatisfaction with the one-hour warning blackout.

According to the statement, the advertising revenues of all television companies in Armenia have significantly decreased in recent years due to the pandemic, war, and amendments to the law on advertising. However, most TV companies have made payments in the past year and considerably reduced their debts.

In response to the complaints from TV companies, ATRBN released a statement highlighting that they are meeting all contractual obligations.

According to the statement released by the national regulator, Television and Radio Committee (TRC), they presented their arguments against the blackouts last week but were disregarded.

The TV companies and TRC suggest that all interested parties engage in discussions to devise a plan for managing and improving the public multiplex. By working together, they aim to improve the quality of audio-visual content provided in the public multiplex while ensuring that Armenian media consumers’ right to information is not compromised.

Marianna Danielyan