President Serzh Sargsyan Visits Armenian Public Television Headquarters

On the 60th anniversary of the Armenian Public Television, President Serzh Sargsyan visited today the headquarters of the Armenia Public Television.

Accompanied by the Broadcaster’s management team, Serzh Sargsyan toured the company. In the meantime, the President heard the Executive Director’s report on the work done to make airtime richer in content and increase the technical quality of broadcasts, develop a new broadcasting policy, repair the facilities, improve the staff’s working conditions and outline the development prospects for the coming years. In this context, reference was made to “The most skilful singer,” the new show recently aired by the Armenian Public Television, which has been much discussed and criticized over the past few days.

Chairman of the Public TV and Radio Council of Armenia Ruben Jaghinyan said that the show was not launched for the reasons attributed to it: it is meant to present music of different genres - folk, classical, jazz and so on, and if not properly perceived by the public at large, giving rise to controversial interpretations, the Broadcaster will henceforth be more attentive to the reaction of the public in order to get some feedback on people’s perception of TV products. They will keep finger on the pulse of the audience in a bid to meet the social expectations.

The President of the Republic stressed that before launching a TV program, the Broadcaster should hold consultations with experts and intellectuals in order to understand their wishes and the interests of the audience. Serzh Sargsyan believes that feedback from the public would be useful indeed. The Public TV executives assured the Head of State that they would hold such meetings and consultations more frequently and would be more attentive to the response of the society.

In connection with the 60th anniversary of the Armenian Public Television, President Serzh Sargsyan awarded a number of TV staff medals and honorary titles for valuable contribution to culture, as well as for years-long fruitful activities.

During a gala event held on the occasion, the President offered his congratulations and handed in the State awards. Serzh Sargsyan praised the years-long hard work of the staff and wished every success to the Public Television of Armenia.

“Ladies and Gentlemen,
Dear Public TV specialists or, as Ms. Shlepchyan used to say over years, Dear Friends!

You are dear friends indeed as for 60 years now you have been calling us at home, providing interesting facts, informing and helping us to assess the reality. For years you have shared with us our joy and, of course, our pain.

I wish to extend special thanks to those employees who understand the cost of entering a private apartment and say a word with the sense of great responsibility. I would like to thank those who are creating good TV products for the audience.

The new broadcasting season, especially as it is a jubilee one – is something like a birthday. Today we are marking a holiday. But look, some people are still working behind the camera. We have just seen people behind the director’s control panel. Very often we do not even know these people in person,” the President noted and emphasized that it was thanks to them that the Armenian television was launched 60 years ago and, in a short period of time, proved to have the largest airtime among the former Soviet republics owing to the presence of good professionals.

Similarly, after the reinstatement of our independence, the hard work done by the TV staff in extremely difficult conditions warmth used to come into our homes from TV studios. In the President’s words, the television we have today, which is furnished with modern state-of-the-art equipment and transmits high-quality images, is the result of highly skilled professionals’ work and the assistance provided by the friendly People’s Republic of China.

However, as the President is convinced that the Public TV of Armenia needs to be constantly improved in order to be the first. “I am once again congratulating all of us on this memorable day, which ushers in the 60th broadcasting season of the Public Television of Armenia. Thank you for your dedicated work and go ahead.” President Serzh Sargsyan said in his congratulatory remarks delivered on the occasion.