USA/Armenia: VOA starts daily Armenian-language TV programme
Voice of America press release
3 May 04
Text of press release by Voice of America on 3 May
Washington, DC, 3 May 2004: Voice of America (VOA) debuted a daily
Armenian-language TV feed today, aimed at providing daily TV stories
to viewers in Armenia and the extensive Armenian diaspora throughout
the Middle East and Europe. For this venture, VOA has partnered with
Armenia TV, which will air the feeds during its weekday newscasts and
present a 30-minute block of VOA television material every Saturday.
“VOA has been an important source of news and information for
Armenians since 1951, and this move to television will help us reach
an even greater audience,” said VOA Director David S. Jackson. “This
is especially important as Armenia faces continued challenges as it
develops toward a more open and democratic civil society.”
VOA’s Armenian service recently ceased its radio broadcasts in order
to focus on providing television news reports and features. The
Armenian Service will be able to build upon its already large radio
audience to reach an even greater number of viewers throughout
Armenia.
A recent survey showed that 97 per cent of Armenians use television
each week as a source of news about current events. Armenia TV reaches
52 per cent of viewers between the ages of 25 and 50 in Armenia alone
and is one of the first private TV companies in Armenia to have such
an extensive reach via satellite. Armenia TV is also available via
satellite subscription in Western Europe and the Middle East,
including the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Switzerland, Holland,
Bulgaria, Romania, Spain, Portugal, Cyprus, Greece, Lebanon, Syria and
Israel.
Amerikai Dzain Herustahandes (VOA TV Magazine) is included in each
weekday news programme, broadcast at 3 p.m. and 6.30 p.m. local time
(1000 and 1330 UTC) to audiences in Armenia. A compilation of each
week’s reports will air Saturdays at 11 p.m. local time (1800
UTC). Programmes as well as previews of upcoming shows will soon also
be available on the Internet at
The Voice of America, which first went on the air in 1942, is a
multimedia international broadcasting service funded by the US
government. VOA broadcasts 1,000 hours of news, information,
educational and cultural programming every week to an estimated
worldwide audience of 87m people. Programmes are produced in Armenian
and 43 other languages.
For more information, call the Office of Public Affairs at (202)
401-7000, or E-mail [email protected].