On December 5 the National Commission on Television and Radio (NCTR) imposed a fine of 1 mln AMD (about $ 2,600) on “Armenia” TV channel. The reason for applying the penalty was the excess of commercial advertising volume by “Armenia” during one airtime hour (the limit prescribed by law makes 14 minutes). In the December 5, 2011 interview to Aravot.am the NCTR Chairman Grigor Amalian noted that National Commission was notified about this violation by one of the TV companies, which “had provided to us an unofficial complaint” with the results of its monitoring. At the same time, the NCTR Head found improper to mention the name of the TV company.
The fact that the regulatory had fined the broadcaster for exceeding the legislative limits of advertising is favorable. Meanwhile, it is noteworthy that throughout years Yerevan Press Club and other NGOs, engaged in media researches, including TV air monitoring, have persistently fixed and voiced that the Armenian broadcasters break the legal provisions on advertising, as well as other legislative requirements. However, NCTR has never responded to these data anyhow. Hopefully, things have started to move: the NCTR sanction towards one TV company is not selective, but it will become a civilized practice towards all the offenders of broadcast legislation.
