After the Soviet era
As political powers began changing in 1990, the then prime minister, Vazgen Manukyan, appointed Henrik Hovhannisyan, a non-communist, to be the head of the State Department of Television and Radio programmes. He started the reformation of the Armenian television, both in terms of content and structure. Those changes were called to comply with the situation of the Kharabagh Freedom movement, and the breakdown of USSR. The early 90s were marked by constant changes, making it free of Soviet-era censorship and more democratic in nature.
Armenia declared its independence on September 21, 1991. Days after that, Haylur became the new news service, as a democratic alternative to Lraber. Early editions ended with a song, often from Ruben Hakhverdyan. A month later, the president of the country signed the RA Law "On Mass Media". For the first time in Armenia the information system had an opportunity to develop in a free and favourable environment. The freedom of speech and purely national propaganda were predominant for the Armenian television.
The economic crisis of the country seriously influenced the functioning of the National television. Capacity was significantly cut and the quantity of viewers decreased. Villages only received 2-3 hours of electricity a day and its equipment was beginning to fall. This prompted Armenian Television to cut its airtime by two thirds. According to the data of November–December 1993, the statistical TV audience was 27.4%. Cable TV companies and independent stations emerged at the end of 1991, bringing competition for the first time. The first Armenian-dubbed series, My Second Mother, aired in 1993, following two investments from the US-Armenian Hayastan fund, which totalled US$440,000. That year, a satellite link was established, using Intelsat's services.
In November 1996, the 40th anniversary of the Armenian television was celebrated with festivities. The national television continued to preserve with great difficulty what has been created during the former years. The bulk of the programs were entertainment and comedy programs. A third edition of Lraber was added at 6pm. Orakarg with Tigran Naghdalyan premiered in 1997. The station began delivering its satellite signal on February 24, 1999, thanks to an agreement between the Government of Armenia and Telespazio.
In 1996, the second channel of Armenian television separated and became a channel in its own right. Robert Mavisakalyan was appointed director of Nork television. Within a short period of time "Nork" was able to attract the attention of the bulk of the audience.
In 2000, television was restructured and renamed the Public Television Company. The country's legislation at the time required Armenia 1 (Hayastan 1) to broadcast all foreign films and series dubbed into Armenian. It was not until 2005 that the language requirement was raised. On January 14, 2000, the channel adopted a logo reading Հ1 (H1).
New roads and prospects opened for the Armenian Public Television in 2005. The Armenian Public Television and Radio were recognised full and equal members of the European Broadcasting Union at the 56th General Assembly of the European Broadcasting Union held in Dubrovnik on July 7 and July 8. Becoming an Active Member of the European Broadcasting Union, Armenia gained the right to take part in the Eurovision Song Contest, which during the 50 years had already become a favourite event for the Europeans.[1]
In 2015, the channel acquired a mobile HD station with ten HD cameras and a satellite transmitter, the station came into place thanks to funds from China. On 13 September 2016, the channel switched to HD broadcasts.
The channel is broadcast internationally via 2 satellites: Hotbird 13G, unencrypted, since 1999,[2] and on Eutelsat 70B, encrypted with BISS, since 2013.[3]
