Will television die out?
The National Commission on Television and Radio (NCTR) will release the results of a tender for digital broadcasting licenses on December 16. The competition is held in Armenia for the first time and is stipulated by the digital switchover from analogue broadcasting.
The list of participants in 18 licensing contests unveiled by the NCTR suggests that only two frequencies will actually be contested by more than one company.
One such contest features A1+, an independent TV station that was controversially taken off the air in 2002, and ArmNews, a TV station now on the air that alternates its news programs with half-hourly retransmissions from pan-European news channel EuroNews.
The Board of Trustees of "People's TV" Foundation which aims to assist the embattled company's return to the air today gave a press conference in support of A1+.
Members of the foundation underlined that it is still unknown what ArmNews suggested in its competition package.
"We know that a few TV companies are located in the same building and it is not excluded that they all use the same technique and equipment. Which of them belongs to ArmNews is still unknown and we cannot properly assess the chances of A1+'s rival," foundation member Bors Navasardyan said on December 6.
With regard to A1+, Mr. Navasardyan said, "In a few years' time television will die out giving its place to the Internet."
"Whether A1+ will win or not will not affect the foundation's activity. A1+ is on the air and broadcasts Internet news. Nevertheless, we are not going to give up and withdraw from the competition. I do hope that A1+ will win in the contest," said Mesrop Movsesyan, President of Meltex" LLC, founder of "A1+" TV Company.
"I think that NCTR members will be wise enough to take a right decision and grant licenses to TV companies which enjoy public confidence. I believe that A1+ will be granted a license by 70%," said president of Gyumri's Asbarez Journalist Club.
Over 20 000 people, including ordinary citizens, intellectuals and officials, have made donations for A1+ and the number is increasing day by day.
