The Voice of Armenia marks 100 years of public broadcasting
100 years ago, on 1 September 1926, the Armenian Radio addressed its listeners over the airwaves for the first time. The historic words were: “Listen! Listen! This is the Yerevan Radio Broadcasting Station speaking.”
Regular broadcasts eventually began on 15 June 1927.
From 1929 onwards, programmes were presented for the first time by professional radio announcers.
On 1 May 1934, the editorial team responsible for social and political programs organized the first-ever live radio report from Yerevan’s Lenin Square, today’s Republic Square. It was presented by radio announcer Yegishe Hovhannisyan.
The first live sports broadcast took place on 15 September 1937 at Yerevan’s Republican Stadium, during a football match between Spartak Yerevan and Dynamo Moscow.
When the tragic fate of the Armenian people scattered them across the world, Armenian Radio decided to produce and broadcast programmes for compatriots living abroad as well.
In 1947, the Armenian Radio began preparing programmes for the diaspora. The first such programme was broadcast on 10 September 1947 at 7 p.m. And the first words were: “This is Yerevan, this is Yerevan…”
Alongside all this, Armenian public broadcasting has another fundamental mission: preserving their audio heritage. Whether it is called an archive, a phonotheque, or a golden collection, the essence remains the same: safeguarding Armenia’s national cultural treasures and passing them on to future generations.
Today, the Amernian Radio phonotheque contains 102,422 audio tapes with a total duration of 12,324 hours. These recordings, which have been digitized, include music recordings, radio dramas, speeches by prominent figures, addresses and broadcasts.
Another distinctive feature of the broadcaster is that it has four resident musical ensembles. The oldest of them, the Aram Merangulian Honoured Ensemble of Folk Instruments, is also celebrating its 100th anniversary this year. They are joined by the Estrada Symphony Orchestra, the Sayat-Nova Ashugh Ensemble and the Arevik Children’s Music Ensemble.
Armenian radio today is a multimedia platform comprising seven radio programmes, dozens of large and small recording studios, a website and video productions. The website of Radio Armenia is available in twelve languages and features both the languages of Armenia’s national minorities and those of the countries in the region.
