საქართველოს პირველი არხი

What is საქართველოს პირველი არხი?

საქართველოს პირველი არხი is the television service of Georgia's public broadcaster, published online at 1tv.ge, which also carries the broadcaster's radio and on-demand services.^[1]

The instrument that creates the body behind it is the Law of Georgia on Broadcasting, №780, adopted on 23 December 2004; this page reads the English text of the consolidated version dated 23 June 2026, published by the Legislative Herald of Georgia. Article 15 of that law provides that, for the purposes of providing the public with diverse programmes “that are free from political and commercial influence and that reflect the interests of the public, the Public Broadcaster is established under this Law”. The same article provides that the Public Broadcaster “is a legal entity under public law that is independent from the state government and is accountable before the public”, that it is created for television or radio broadcasting on the basis of state property, that it operates on the basis of public financing, and that it “is not subordinate to any state agency”.^[3]

The broadcaster's own organisation page describes the services it runs: a first channel it dates to 1956, a second television channel it dates to 1991 and gives in its current form as ტელესკოლა, a radio service it dates to 1925 on FM 102.3, and a second radio service from 1995 on FM 100.9. Those dates are the broadcaster's own account of itself.^[1] The same page names a board of trustees, a board of directors and a general director as its governing organs.^[1]

Broadcasters in Georgia report to the Georgian National Communications Commission, which publishes monitoring findings on broadcaster conduct and sets statistical reporting requirements covering sources of financing and paid and free services.^[6]

What does საქართველოს პირველი არხი cover?

The site runs a standing sport section. Read on 23 September 2026, it carried items dated 21 to 23 September 2026 on the men's football squad assembling for Nations League matches, on a Georgian judoka winning a world veterans title, on a basketball tournament final in Tbilisi, and on a Georgian player named in an Italian league round team.^[2]

The sports carried in that section, as its own navigation groups them, are football, basketball, rugby, judo, weightlifting, wrestling, tennis, water polo and chess, with pages for national teams, domestic championships and transfers.^[2] The competition pages the section maintains include the Nations League, the World Cup, EuroBasket, the Rugby World Cup, the Olympic Games and the Paralympic Games.^[2]

The broadcaster's own channel list names a dedicated sport television channel, პირველი არხი სპორტი, alongside the main channel and the two radio services.^[7]

How large is საქართველოს პირველი არხი's audience?

The recognised currency for Georgian television audiences is TV MR Ge, whose figures are the ones cited for channel shares in the European Journalism Centre's Media Landscapes report on Georgian television. That report gives, for 2017, Imedi TV at 28.08 per cent of audience share, Rustavi 2 at 26.76 per cent, GDS at 5.61 per cent, Rustavi 2's comedy channel at 3.86 per cent and the public broadcaster's first channel at 3.63 per cent.^[5] Those are 2017 figures and no later audited share for the channel could be retrieved for this page.

The same report gives the television advertising market at 73.98m Georgian lari in 2017, and cites a 2017 National Democratic Institute poll in which 72 per cent of respondents said they get news primarily via television.^[5] Those are market and survey figures rather than a measurement of this channel.

No audited online-audience figure for 1tv.ge was retrieved. The Georgian traffic counter TOP.GE, whose sport category page states that its statistics are generated from the previous day, does not carry the site among the twenty entries in that category.^[4] A traffic counter's one-day reading is not audited measurement in any case.

Since when has საქართველოს პირველი არხი existed?

Three different dates apply and they are not the same fact. The legal person was established by the Law of Georgia on Broadcasting, №780, adopted on 23 December 2004, whose Article 15 provides that the Public Broadcaster “is established under this Law”.^[3]

The channel is older than the legal person. The broadcaster's own organisation page dates the first television channel to 1956 and the second to 1991, and dates its radio service to 1925; those are the broadcaster's own statements about itself and no independent confirmation of them was retrieved for this page.^[1]

The Media Landscapes report records that Georgia completed digital terrestrial switchover in 2015.^[5]

Why does საქართველოს პირველი არხი matter in Georgia's sport?

It is the sport outlet on this list whose remit is set by statute rather than by its owner: Article 15 of the broadcasting law establishes the Public Broadcaster for the purposes of providing the public with diverse programmes free from political and commercial influence, and provides that it is not subordinate to any state agency.^[3] It also runs a dedicated sport television channel.^[7]

Published monitoring goes to the same point from the other side and is reported here in the monitor's own words. Reporters Without Borders placed Georgia 135th of 180 countries in its 2026 World Press Freedom Index, with a score of 40.77 and indicator scores of 28.02 political, 34.46 economic, 46.92 legal, 49.60 social and 44.85 security.^[4] Under its media-landscape heading the organisation writes that “the media landscape is diverse and, at the same time, highly politically polarised”, and it records that the public broadcaster has experienced state interference.^[4] Under its political heading it writes that authorities increasingly refuse to engage with outlets that criticise them, “resorting to censorship, smear campaigns and intimidation”.^[4]