Armenian Public Television, commonly known as H1, has taken a noteworthy step this week by inaugurating an office in Los Angeles,
marking its expansion into one of the largest Armenian communities beyond the country’s borders. Its Los Angeles operation will be called First Channel America. Operated and financially supported by the present Armenian government, Armenian Public Television’s expansion into Los Angeles can be interpreted as a deliberate effort to enhance its influence within the diaspora. Armenian Public Television’s undeniably close ties with the current government have further fueled skepticism and distrust among the citizens of Armenia, many of whom label the station as a mouthpiece for government propaganda.
Following the 2020 War in Artsakh, in 2021 the Armenian government decided to allocate significant funds to the Public Broadcaster’s Council, amounting to nearly a million US dollars (427.7 million drams). This raised concerns about the station’s independence and impartiality. Moreover, even before the 2020 War in Artsakh, in February 2020, the government approved the legislative initiative of the government regarding the draft of the RA law “On Amendments and Additions to the RA Law On Television and Radio,” giving the right to broadcast advertisements to the Public Television Company. Government funding and entering the advertising market with government backing gave Armenian Public Television substantial competitive advantages, pushing competitors like opposition media out of the market. Meanwhile, the Armenian government continues to periodically crack down on media outlets that are critical of the government’s recent decisions to warm relations with neighboring Turkey and Azerbaijan. Just yesterday, Armenian Public Television published a news segment based on a survey stating that Nikol Pashinyan is the most trustworthy politician in the country.
On New Year’s Eve, as the country and Armenians worldwide prepared to welcome the new year, Armenian Public Television omitted the yearly address of the Catholicos, the leader of the Armenian Apostolic Church, from its programming. This tradition was instated and had continued since Armenia’s independence in 1991. This omission was seen as a deliberate snub towards the religious leader and further strained the already tense relationship between the current government and the Armenian Apostolic Church. The leadership of the Armenian Public Television includes Hovhanes Movsisyan, who currently serves as Executive Director.
Movsisyan, who studied documentary filmmaking in Turkey and was a journalist for Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, strongly voiced his support for the “Velvet Revolution.” Following the revolution, he quickly rose in influence within Armenia’s media landscape and was assigned by the then newly appointed Prime Minister Pashinyan to the Prime Minister’s Public Affair and Information Center. Following the 2020 War in Artsakh, which ended in a capitulation on November 9, 2020, Movsisyan was again promoted. On November 11, 2020, only two days after the Government’s capitulation of the vast majority of Artsakh, Movsisyan was again promoted, this time to his current role as Executive Director of Armenia’s state-owned public television.