On July 15, at 22:00, the Public Television broadcasted an interview with the First Lady of Armenia, Chairwoman of the Board of Trustees of “My Step” and “City of Smiles” foundations, Anna Hakobyan, instead of the pre-announced France-Czech Republic game of the UEFA European Under-19 Championship. Football game was broadcasted with a great delay.
Public finances were spent for the right to live broadcast the match and football fans were waiting for broadcast, who, actually turned to be cheated. On the other hand, the discussion with Anna Hakobyan did not refer to any urgent topic, for which it would be proper to change the broadcast schedule. The situation was more like a government’s arbitrary use of public resources.
We urge the Public Television’s officials to avoid political manifestations of corruption, so that public interest and predictability are the main priorities of a publicly funded TV channel.
