RFE/RL SIGNS A DEAL IN ARMENIA BUT SAYS NATIONAL AGREEMENT IS ELUSIVE

Radio World, VA –
Aug 3 2007

The Broadcasting Board of Governors renewed a contract to carry
programs of Radio Liberty’s Armenian language service on a private
network based in the Armenian capital, Yerevan.

The contract with AR Radio Intercontinental runs until September
2008. The network has 23 transmitters, covering the city and outlying
districts.

The deal means Armenian listeners will be able to continue to
hear the programming on AR Radio Intercontinental. But Radio Free
Europe/Radio Liberty officials said efforts to renew a contract
with Armenian Public Radio, with transmitters covering the country,
"have so far proven unsuccessful." Armenian Public Radio announced in
July that it would stop carrying Radio Liberty broadcasts on Aug. 9
on its 80 transmitters.

RFE/RL Armenian programs have been aired on Armenian Public Radio
since 1997. The Armenian Service has been on the air since 1953.