Public Television Company of Armenia

The Public Television Company of Armenia, commonly known as First Channel, H1, 1TV or AMPTV, is Armenia’s state-owned public television company. Its first broadcast aired on 29 November 1956. The initial schedule ran four days a week; the first children’s programme followed in February 1957 and regular television news began in February 1958.

Media assets

Domestic television: First Channel and First News Channel

International television: First Channel International and First Channel America

Digital platform: New Channel, or Nor Aliq

First Channel is AMPTV’s flagship national service. First News Channel, launched in Yerevan in June 2021, has broadcast nationwide since 9 June 2024. New Channel, launched in March 2024, is a digital service aimed primarily at younger audiences.

AMPTV is one of two public broadcasting companies managed by the Public Broadcaster’s Council, alongside the Public Radio Company of Armenia. A 2025 amendment reduced the statutory minimum number of public broadcasters from three to two. The Government subsequently decided to liquidate the Spiritual-Cultural Public Television Company, and Shoghakat ceased nationwide terrestrial transmission through the public multiplex on 1 January 2026. The closure and liquidation were confirmed by the Television and Radio Broadcasting Network of Armenia and subsequent reporting on the liquidation process.

Ownership and governance

AMPTV is a closed joint-stock company wholly owned by the Republic of Armenia. Its authorised governing body is the Public Broadcaster’s Council.

The applicable framework is the current Law on Audiovisual Media.

The Council has seven members. Each is appointed by the Prime Minister following a statutory competition conducted by a temporary commission formed by the audiovisual regulator. Members serve six-year terms and may be removed early only on grounds specified by law. The Council elects its chair from among its members by secret ballot for a four-year term.

These are substantive procedural safeguards, but they do not remove executive influence: final appointment of every Council member rests with the Prime Minister. The system lacks an arm’s-length appointing authority independent of the executive.

The Council approves the public broadcasters’ statutes, programming policies and journalistic code; determines organisational and remuneration arrangements; approves expenditure estimates; and appoints the executive directors selected through competition. It must also commission an independent annual audit and submit an annual programming and financial report to the National Assembly.

Hovhannes Movsisyan won the competition for Executive Director on 6 November 2020, from a field of twelve candidates, and was appointed on 11 November. He remains identified as Executive Director on AMPTV’s current management page. Before joining the broadcaster, he headed the Public Relations and Information Center under the staff of the Prime Minister.

Source of funding and budget

AMPTV is financed principally from the state budget, while also earning advertising, sponsorship and other service revenue.

Armenia’s 2026 budget allocated approximately AMD 8.285 billion to the Public Broadcaster’s Council and the public-broadcasting system, AMD 88.905 million less than in 2025. This is a group-level appropriation covering the Council, Public Television and Public Radio; it should not be presented as AMPTV’s individual allocation. The figure is recorded in the National Assembly’s budget proceedings.

AMPTV reported total revenue of AMD 6.954 billion in 2024, including approximately AMD 757.9 million from advertising and sponsorship, equivalent to 10.9 per cent of revenue. It reported an operating loss of AMD 222.4 million. Advertising and sponsorship income is therefore secondary but not nominal.

The Law on Audiovisual Media provides an additional funding safeguard: except where state-budget expenditure changes proportionately, annual financing of the public broadcasters may not fall below the previous year’s level.

Editorial independence

The Law on Audiovisual Media formally prohibits unlawful interference in public broadcasters’ activities and requires public-service programming to uphold objectivity, impartiality, pluralism and diversity. The Council approves AMPTV’s programming policy and journalistic code.

Evidence from the 2026 parliamentary election shows that these safeguards did not produce balanced news coverage. The OSCE/ODIHR election observation mission found that First Channel complied with the requirement to provide each contestant with 90 minutes of free prime-time airtime and organised three debates open to all contestants. It nevertheless concluded that H1’s newscasts displayed clear bias in favour of the ruling Civil Contract party and covered leading opposition contestants predominantly negatively.

In quantitative terms, Civil Contract received 14 per cent of H1’s monitored political coverage, predominantly positive in tone. Strong Armenia received 17 per cent, Armenia Alliance 11 per cent and Prosperous Armenia 9 per cent, with their coverage mainly negative.

The audiovisual regulator monitored the public broadcaster and reminded it on 27 May 2026 of its duty to provide impartial coverage. OSCE/ODIHR noted, however, that the regulator lacked authority to impose sanctions on the public broadcaster. This is a concrete weakness in the enforcement framework.

Earlier concerns are consistent with that finding. In 2025, AMPTV provided free prime-time slots to Anna Hakobyan, the Prime Minister’s wife, for her Learning is Trendy campaign. AMPTV said comparable non-commercial airtime was available to other initiatives but did not explain its selection criteria, according to CivilNet’s investigation.

AI and digital policy

State Media Monitor could not identify a published AMPTV policy governing generative artificial intelligence, mandatory human verification, model provenance or audience disclosure, and could not establish the extent to which AI has been incorporated into production.

State Media Monitor also did not identify an Armenian statutory provision specifically requiring broadcasters to label every item produced or assisted by artificial intelligence. This finding should not be presented as establishing the absence of all generally applicable data, consumer-protection or audiovisual rules that might apply to particular uses.

Classification rationale

AMPTV remains classified State-Controlled Media (SC).

It is state-owned and state-governed. The Republic of Armenia owns the company, and the Public Broadcaster’s Council exercises its ownership and governance functions. Council members are appointed by the Prime Minister. Statutory competitions, fixed terms and limited removal grounds provide procedural safeguards but do not create an appointing authority independent of the executive.

It is predominantly state-funded. Public funding is the company’s principal financial resource. Advertising and sponsorship represented approximately 10.9 per cent of its reported 2024 revenue, confirming that commercial income is material but secondary. A company-specific 2026 allocation and current revenue breakdown were not identified.

Its editorial independence is compromised in practice. OSCE/ODIHR found that H1’s newscasts during the 2026 election campaign were clearly biased in favour of the ruling party, notwithstanding compliance with free-airtime and debate requirements. The regulator could monitor and warn the broadcaster but lacked authority to sanction it.

The formal public-service provisions and appointment procedures are relevant safeguards, but they are outweighed by executive influence over Council appointments, predominant state financing, the enforcement gap and documented editorial bias. All State Media Matrix conditions for the SC classification are met.

September 2026