Armenia’s National Commission on Television and Radio (NCTR) has published the prices for paid airtime during the campaign period of the Yerevan municipal elections to take place on May 14.

Fifteen TV and radio companies submitted applications to broadcast political ads. During the previous municipal elections in 2013, only eight companies had offered paid airtime. The newcomers to the list are H2, Armenia TV, Kentron TV, Ararat TV, ArmNews, H3, and Radio Marshall. 

Of the companies that allocated paid airtime to political parties in the last Yerevan municipal elections, H1, Shant TV, Yerkir Media, Public Radio, Hay FM, and Radio Hay are offering lower prices than in the previous election; ATV is offering higher prices; and AR TV, the same as before.

The highest prices for each minute of paid airtime is offered by Armenia TV and Shant TV: 100,000 AMD (about US$200) per minute. The lowest price is offered by Ararat TV: 10,000 AMD (about US$20) per minute.

Allocating the most amount of airtime to political parties per day will be radio companies — 20 minutes.

Kentron TV is ready to provide a maximum of 15 minutes of airtime per day for political ads. The least amount of airtime per day is offered by Armenia TV, Shant TV, ArmNews, and ATV — 6 minutes.

H1 and Public Radio have no restrictions on the amount of paid airtime they offer.

Gagik Aghbalyan