"Competitive Disadvantage: Will Public Television Show Paid Advertisements Again?" - Karen Kocharyan

If Public Television is given the opportunity to display paid advertisements again while also receiving funding from the state budget, it will create an unfavorable competitive environment for other private television companies. Media expert Karen Kocharyan stated this in an interview with Tert.am, commenting on the draft amendment to the "Law on Television and Radio" recently circulated by the Ministry of Justice of Armenia, which, among other things, aims to allow Public Television to show paid advertisements.

"Years ago, when the possibility of displaying paid advertisements on Public Television was removed, funding from the budget increased to about 6 billion drams. Now, if they want to reinstate the opportunity to show advertisements, will they decrease the funding? If the funding has not been removed, there is simply no point in returning the advertisements," said Kocharyan.

He noted that when advertisements were removed from Public Television, one of the justifications was that the Public had to 'chase' advertisers in order to cover its costs, and that Public should not have such issues.

According to Kocharyan, competitive issues would not arise if the funding from the budget were reduced. In that case, it would be the responsibility of each television company to create quality and rating shows to attract advertisers.

"The effectiveness of an advertisement depends on the ratings of a particular television program at that moment. If Public Television runs popular programs at that time, placing advertisements there will, of course, be effective. But if Public continues to receive the same amount of funding from the budget as it did when advertisements were not shown, and at the same time can also display advertisements, then Public will have the opportunity to initially create rating programs with a large budget and additionally earn income from advertisements," summarized Karen Kocharyan.

It is noteworthy that several journalistic organizations have also expressed their concerns regarding the draft, considering this initiative an unjustified step.