Radio
According to the annual report by the Հեռուստատեսության և ռադիոյի ազգային հանձնաժողով (National Commission on Television and Radio - NCTR), in 2017 Armenia had 18 functioning radio broadcasting companies, including one public and 17 private companies. In terms of coverage, three radio companies broadcast all over the republic, 13 broadcast in the capital Yerevan and two companies broadcast in the Shirak and Lori regions of Armenia. These radio broadcasters predominantly air music and entertainment programmes. Almost all of them have brief news reports. The radio audience measurement has not been carried out systematically in Armenia; hence it is difficult to determine the latest ratings of radio broadcasters and the listener preferences.
According to the study of the Armenian radio market conducted by the Caucasus Research Resource Centre in October 2011, a fifth of Armenian households have a radio and 16 percent have a radio in their car. In addition, over three quarters of the population (76 percent) report they have not listened to the radio in the last 12 months. Amongst those who do, 35 percent listen for one to three hours and 28 percent for less than an hour per day. More than half of the listeners (59 percent) do so at home, another 26 percent in their cars, and 12 percent listen at work. Armenian National Radio is listened to most frequently, with 13 percent of the population listening at least once a month. Half (50 percent) of the radio audience prefers to listen to Armenian-language stations, 44 percent listens to both Armenian and Russian stations, and 6 percent listens to Russian-language stations only. Music content is by far the most popular, mentioned by 78 percent of the listeners, followed by news, with 51 percent. The transition of Armenia to digital broadcasting has been delayed repeatedly. Digitalisation was postponed due to shortfalls in funding. The republic’s authorities have officially stated that the government will proceed with the transition to digital broadcasting after the transition to digital TV has been completed.
Radio stations in Armenia broadcast in the Armenian and Russian languages. Radio broadcasts of major Russian radio stations as Russian Radio, Autoradio, and Radio Shanson are also relayed in the republic. From the local radio stations broadcasting in Russian and Armenian, Radio Van and Radio Aurora should be highlighted. All major radio stations broadcast mainly within the capital and adjacent cities. Radio Aurora entirely broadcasts in a visual format. Virtually all radio stations have Internet broadcasting. The Armenian Public radio has the widest coverage – it includes all regions of Armenia, as well as an international broadcasting network operating in the short-wave range, via satellite communications, as well as online via the Internet. In addition to the Armenian language, The Armenian Public radio broadcasts in the main languages of the national minorities of Armenia, as well as in English, Arabic, Azerbaijani, Spanish, Turkish, German and French.