Radio
As of 2025, twenty-seven private radio stations operate based on licenses issued by the Television and Radio Commission. Of these, three broadcast throughout the republic, fifteen only in Yerevan, eight only in the provinces, and one in Yerevan and Gegharkunik province.
The public broadcaster, Public Radio Company of Armenia CJSC, operates 4 channels without requiring licenses: the nationwide First Program and three capital city programs, including My Radio, VEM educational-cultural program, and Arevik children's program. Additionally, two radio programs are broadcast based on interstate agreements with foreign or interstate radio channels.
According to the MOM methodology, 10 media outlets with the highest audience share are selected for study in each media market. However, Armenia's radio market presents unique characteristics that require adaptation of this standard approach. Armenia lacks an independent research agency that measures audience shares of radio stations, rendering audience-based selection impossible. Given these circumstances, nine radio stations were selected for the study based on a combination of quantitative and qualitative criteria.
The selection applied editorial criteria to ensure relevance: stations must broadcast news or political and analytical programming, operate with nationwide coverage or in Yerevan, where over one-third of Armenia's population resides, and be actively operating in Armenia. MOM Team calculated total social media followers across all platforms for each radio station, including Facebook, Instagram, X, LinkedIn, TikTok, Telegram, and YouTube, as a proxy for audience reach in the absence of independent radio ratings. Stations with nationwide coverage or Yerevan-based operations were prioritized, given the capital's population concentration. Radio stations featuring political and analytical programming—such as Public Radio, Gortsarar, and Radio Aurora—were prioritized as they contribute significantly to public discourse and political awareness. All stations broadcasting news programs were included, even those with limited five-minute news segments.
Europa Plus was excluded despite holding a valid license. The station, owned by European Media Group, lacks Armenian contact information, making it inaccessible for research purposes. MOM Team's attempts to obtain contact details through the commission were unsuccessful. A significant research limitation is that most radio stations do not archive content, particularly news programs, making comprehensive content analysis time-consuming and sometimes impossible. Two additional stations were excluded from the main study but are referenced in the ownership analysis: Radio Jan lacks news programming but is owned by the CEO of Armenia TV, and FM 105.5 lacks news programming but is owned by the same person as Radio Hay.
Nine radio stations were selected for the study.
