BBG RENEWS CONTRACT WITH PRIVATE STATION IN ARMENIA: RFE/RL ARMENIAN SERVICE STILL OFF PUBLIC RADIO
Radio Liberty, Czech Rep.
Aug 1 2007
(Washington, DC–August 1, 2007) The Broadcasting Board of Governors
(BBG) has renewed a contract to carry the programs of Radio Liberty’s
Armenian language service on a private radio network based in the
Armenian capital, Yerevan.
The contract with AR Radio Intercontinental runs from August 15,
2007 until September 14, 2008. The network has 23 transmitters,
which cover Yerevan and a number of outlying districts.
"We are pleased that many Armenian listeners will be able to
continue to hear our programming on AR Radio Intercontinental," said
Jeffrey Gedmin, President and Chief Operating Officer of Radio Free
Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL, Inc.).
However, Gedmin noted that efforts to renew a contract with Armenian
Public Radio, which has transmitters covering the entire country,
have so far proven unsuccessful.
"We remain deeply committed to nationwide coverage of Armenia.
Hundreds of thousands of listeners rely on Radio Liberty’s Armenian
Service and depend on us for accurate, comprehensive news," said
Gedmin, noting that the latest national surveys indicate 15 percent
of Armenians tune in each week.
Armenian Public Radio announced in mid-July that it would stop carrying
Radio Liberty broadcasts on August 9, 2007 on the 80 transmitters in
the network.
"We have worked diligently to settle any legal and contractual issues,
and believe there is no reason the broadcasts shouldn’t continue,"
said Gedmin.
RFE/RL Armenian programs have been aired on Armenian Public Radio —
Armenia’s top radio network — since 1998. Three days of contract
discussions in Yerevan in mid-July ended without resolution.
James K. Glassman, Chairman of the Broadcasting Board of Governors,
said at the time, "We value our relationship with Armenian Public
Radio, and certainly want it to continue."
RFE/RL’s Armenian Service has been on the air since 1953 and produces
more than three and one half hours of Armenian-language programming
daily in Prague and its Yerevan Bureau. Armenian Service programming
is available via satellite, local affiliates and the Internet,
at the service’s website and at ;
English-language news about events in Armenia can be found on the
RFE/RL website, at