National and municipal elections have always been an opportunity for television companies to increase their budget through paid political advertising.

Many countrywide and Yerevan-wide TV stations had calculated that they would pay off the debts and state duties accumulated over the past 2-3 years during the Yerevan Council of Elders’ elections. They would do this using the financial income received from the paid political advertising purchased by the political parties.

According to the Commission on Television and Radio monitoring results, “Armenia” and “Shant” TV companies received the most income from paid television advertising during the Yerevan Council of Elders campaign.

The TV station “Channel 5” is ranked third among the television stations with the highest income.

Before the start of the campaign, the six TV stations of the countrywide, and the five Yerevan-wide distribution had published the per-minute tariff for paid airtime during the pre-election campaign in accordance with the law. 

According to the law, the price of 1 minute of political advertising is calculated using the average cost of commercial advertising by the TV station in the past six months.  

Based on the data released by the Television and Radio Commission, “Armenia” TV company charged the highest rate of 100,000 drams per minute.

“Shant TV” was in the second position, with a set price of 90,000 AMD per minute in the evening (18:00-23:59) and 45,000 AMD during the daytime (06:00-17:59).

During the pre-election campaign, “Channel 5” allotted the least airtime for paid TV advertising compared to other TV channels. The TV company planned to provide only 6 minutes of paid political advertising daily, each costing 30,000 drams.

By multiplying the duration of paid advertising by the fixed rate of one minute per political advertisement, we can calculate the amount “Channel 5” received during the campaign. 

In the 24 days prior to the election, the budget of the “Armenia” television company increased by 46.6 million drams. Only four political groups aired political advertisements on “Armenia TV,” namely “Civil Contract,” “Bright Armenia,” “Country to Live,” and the “Mother Armenia” party alliance. “Civil Contract” spent the most among these groups, purchasing advertising airtime worth 14.5 million drams.

The “Shant” TV company is in second place, with a total revenue of 19,093,883 AMD. (The calculation considers the prices set by “Shant” in different time slots and is based on an average value.)

Shant TV broadcasted political ads for several Armenian parties, including “Civil Contract,” “Bright Armenia,” “Country to Live,” and the “Republican.” The ruling party was the primary advertiser.

“Armenia TV” and other political parties. The total cost of political advertising paid to the TV station was 9,923,000 drams. However, the “Civil Contract” bought only 4,193,000 drams worth of advertising, and the “Mother Armenia” party alliance bought 3,893,500 drams worth of advertising. The remaining revenue of the TV company was distributed among the “Country to Live,” “United Armenia,” and the “Republican” parties.

The three receiving the most money are followed by “Kentron” TV company with 7 million 436 thousand drams, “Public TV” with 6 million 411 thousand, and “Yerkir Media” with 6 million 277 thousand 500 hundred drams.

In the case of other TV stations, the image decreases several times.

Marianna Danielyan