Can Armenia Finally Get Reliable TV Ratings?

Armenia's television industry has operated without reliable audience gauging for nearly a decade, creating a crisis that affects millions of dollars in advertising revenue and distorts market competition.

The lack of credible ratings data has left advertisers uncertain about where to invest their budgets, weakened smaller TV channels' ability to compete for advertising contracts, and concentrated market power among a handful of connected players. With only one company providing disputed data that many industry participants reject as unreliable, the entire advertising ecosystem has been thrown into uncertainty, forcing some channels to the brink of financial collapse while others benefit from questionable competitive advantages.

The long-standing crisis appears close to resolution. On August 7, 2025, Armenia's Media Industrial Committee and the Indian technology company Inditronics Media Private Limited signed a memorandum of cooperation for television audience measurement. The agreement paves the way for a seven-year contract, with measurements expected to begin in November-December 2025.

The arrangement will involve multiple parties: the Industrial Committee (established in 2023 as a regulatory body protecting TV channel interests by overseeing measurement providers), its member TV channels and advertising agencies, Inditronics Media Private Limited, and a local Armenian company that Inditronics will establish.

However, past failures raise questions about whether this deal will succeed. Earlier in 2025, Czech company Median was set to begin measuring Armenian TV ratings from July 1 after winning a 2024 Industrial Committee tender for a five-year, $6.5 million contract. That deal collapsed when TV stations couldn't afford the payments, according to Hetq.

"Three companies submitted bids for that tender—Admospher, Kantar/Gorbi, and Czech Median. Median won based on offering the lowest price," the Industrial Committee told Hetq. The company had five working days to finalize the contract but failed to sign within the deadline, rendering the tender void.

The measurement gap has created an advertising crisis. With only Admospher currently providing data that many industry participants consider unreliable, advertisers lack confidence in where to spend their budgets.

"Due to this extraordinary situation, the Committee had to either announce a new tender or make a single-source purchase within 45 working days. Citing urgency, the General Assembly chose the single-source purchase route," explained newly appointed Committee President Margarita Grigoryan, former CEO of Vivaro Media and H1, and former executive producer at Armenia TV. She declined to disclose the contract value.

Armenia's television audience measurement landscape has been shaped by three companies since 2005. "AGB Nielsen" launched the country's first audience measurement system that year, introducing people meters—electronic devices installed in households that automatically track viewing habits. Competition arrived in 2008 when GFK entered the market, offering an alternative measurement service.

The market began consolidating in 2013 when AGB Nielsen withdrew from Armenia. Three years later, on January 1, 2016, the Armenian company Telemediakontrol Ltd—which operated under a Swiss GFK license—also ceased operations after GFK refused to invest in upgrading its technology for digital signal measurement.

Admospher-Armenia LLC, founded in 2015 and partnering with Czech firm Nielsen Admosphere, filled the resulting void. Now operating under a different name, Admospher remains Armenia's sole provider of television ratings through people meter technology.

The first serious challenge to the measurement system emerged in 2016 when Aghasi Yenokyan of the Center for Political and International Studies publicly questioned the reliability of TV measurements. His criticism focused on industry distrust of Admospher Armenia's methodology, sampling techniques, and software systems. Admospher Armenia's' operations are not transparent enough to stakeholders, causing concern, his team's report concluded.

Yenokyan called for an audit of the company and petitioned the State Commission for Protection of Economic Competition to investigate suspected connections between several key players: the advertising sales house Media International Services (MIS), its parent company PanArmenian Media Group, and Admospher Armenia. MIS held exclusive rights to sell advertisements for five major channels: Armenia TV, ATV, ArmNews, Yerkir Media, and Shant.

His investigation revealed concerns about market concentration. Yenokyan suspected PanArmenian Media Group (PAMG) controlled 46% of the advertising market's budget, creating a dominant position. He believed PAMG and MIS operated as a single business entity that effectively dictated advertising market conditions.

Family connections among executives reinforced these suspicions. PAMG director and Armenia TV board chairman Armen Arzumanyan was the brother of MIS's CEO (until 2018), Aram Arzumanyan. Meanwhile, the real beneficiary of MIS was Tigran Safaryan, who simultaneously held key positions in Admospher Armenia.

Reports suggested these companies were ultimately controlled by then-President Serzh Sargsyan's son-in-law, Mikayel Minasyan. After the 2018 “Velvet Revolution”, Minasyan faced multiple charges, including some related to Telemediakontrol and Admospher. His alleged associates - including Admospher shareholder Tigran Yeghoyan and Mher Vardanyan (current TV1 advertising agency director and brother-in-law to deputy prime minister Mher Grigoryan) - are now detained. Prosecutors allege Minasyan also provided financing for Shant, Armenia, ArmNews, ATV, News.am, and Tert.am.

Industry debate over ratings measurement continued until the 2018 revolution brought political change. The following year, Mediahouse Armenia was founded as a second advertising sales agency, designed to challenge MIS's monopoly position. Mediahouse immediately pushed for an international audit of Admospher, prompting the government to allocate approximately 27 million AMD from reserve funds for the review in 2022.

The ownership structure of Mediahouse Armenia has evolved significantly since its creation. Vardan Grigoryan initially owned the company entirely, but in 2022 Public TV acquired a 50% stake. Two years later, Shant TV purchased Grigoryan's remaining shares. Mediahouse Armenia now manages airtime sales for these television channels, with notable political connections: since 2020, its finance director has been Arman Harutyunyan, brother of the Chief of Staff of the Office of the Prime Minister Arayik Harutyunyan and a Yerevan City Council member from the Civil Contract party.

The international audit, conducted by 3M3A firm, delivered damaging conclusions for Admospher Armenia, finding that its system failed to meet international standards. However, Admospher accepted only selected findings from the review.

These developments led to regulatory reform. A 2024 law amendment established the Industrial Committee in March, tasked with organizing tenders for new measurement providers. The Committee's structure reflects industry dynamics: thirteen multiplex broadcasters participate, with five channels (H1, Armenia, Shant, Fast Sport, Kentron) serving as Board members who pay 350,000 AMD monthly membership fees. The remaining channels (Shoghakat, Mir, Nur, 21TV, Fifth Channel, Boon, A TV, H1 News) pay reduced fees of 50,000 AMD monthly.

Controversy emerged when tender oversight was assigned to 3M3Global AS—the same firm that had conducted the critical audit. Admospher applied to participate despite the criticism. Industry insiders privately expressed concerns to Hetq about potential conflicts of interest, questioning whether the audit firm should also manage the tender process. Additional doubts arose about the Czech company's methodology, panel management, and measurement instruments, but then-Committee chair Khoren Beglaryan declined to address these queries.

Meanwhile, Admospher maintains its measurement operations with Armenia and ATV as clients. Major brand advertisers including Coca-Cola and Procter & Gamble continue basing their advertising contracts on these disputed data.

The transition timeline is now set. According to the December 30, 2024 Measurement Provision Oversight agreement and the Law on Audiovisual Media, Admospher will cease operations once the new measurement company begins providing services.

The impact of introducing a second sales house on market balance remains unclear. Armenia's Competition Protection Commission's study from 2020, analyzing 2019-2020 data, revealed high concentration in television advertising with Armenia TV dominating the market and Shant ranking second. However, by early 2020, the presence of two competing sales houses began improving conditions, reducing market concentration to medium levels.

The current market operates with distinct selling approaches. MIS handles advertising sales for Armenia, ATV, Yerkir Media (via cable), and 21TV using GRP (Gross Rating Points—a standard advertising metric measuring reach and frequency). Meanwhile, Mediahouse Armenia manages sales for Public TV and Shant using time-based pricing by minutes rather than ratings-based metrics. Mediahouse director Gurgen Mkrtchyan declined requests for interviews regarding these arrangements.