“Shoghakat” TV Channel Removed from Public Broadcasting
On October 24, the National Assembly (NA) adopted the bill to close the “Shoghakat” TV company. Deputies of the “Civil Contract” faction, Taguhi Ghazaryan and Sisak Gabrielyan, had proposed reducing the number of public-status TV channels from 3 to 2.
In an interview with journalists at the NA today, Tigran Hakobyan, Chairman of the Television and Radio Commission (TRC), addressed the channel’s closure, noting that the issue of depriving “Shoghakat” of airtime is not new. By a law adopted in 2020, “Shoghakat” was categorized among TV channels with an educational and cultural orientation, which contradicted the religious content found on the channel. According to Hakobyan, the channel never restructured its programming policy.
“I believe it is unacceptable to both talk about God’s mission and show political content, even on a channel called spiritual,” said Hakobyan, stressing that this phenomenon was first noticed by the viewers themselves.
Over the last year, the viewership of “Shoghakat” has practically reached zero; there was no audience, which meant the issue had to be resolved. Nevertheless, the commission is not prepared to comment on whether the law is right or wrong, as it has already been adopted, and discussions at this stage are belated.
“If ‘Shoghakat’ has other goals and is financed by church structures, it can continue its operations without any obstacle on cable broadcasting platforms, which are currently accessible to about 80 percent of the population,” noted Hakobyan.
Members of the Television and Radio Commission do not fully agree with the decision regarding “Shoghakat” Television and believe that a much more effective solution could have been found.