Background

A1+ was one of Armenia’s leading independent TV channels before it was abruptly taken off the air in 2002.

In 2000 and 2001, the government had brought in new broadcasting rules, involving the creation of a new licensing procedure. This required TV companies to bid for operating licences in an open competition. A newly created regulator would assess the bids.

A1+’s parent company, Meltex Ltd, bid for a new licence but lost out to a competitor. As a result, A1+ stopped broadcasting on 25 April 2002.

Meltex made six more bids for licences but lost out each time.

Mesrop Movsesyan, A1+’s founder, wanted answers. He kept writing to the regulator demanding a full explanation why Meltex had consistently been denied a licence. Instead, he received standard replies which told him little.

Meltex took legal action against the regulator. However, an Armenian court dismissed the company’s complaints in 2004, saying it had been given “grounds and reasons” for the refusal of its bids.