The first private television company in Armenia, Tsayg currently enjoys a 60 percent market share in the city of Gyumri and the Shirak region. The company has managed to attract this substantial audience due to its engaging programming in music, sports, and politics, as well as its exhaustive coverage of local and national news, and insightful analysis of current events.

Tsayg began broadcasting in the city of Gyumri in 1992, a time when the region was still recovering from the devastation of the 1988 earthquake. The management team of Arthur Ghandilyan and Margarita Minasyan successfully guided the station through Armenia's difficult economic reform period while continuing to maintain their commitment to producing a creative product.

As the company was first developing, its financial support came from the owners' scarce personal resources. When Tsayg decided to expand its technical capacity, however, it turned to the Izmerlian-Eurasia Foundation SBLP. With this significant step forward, the company realized that a sound strategic policy and fund management were crucial for the company's survival. "We realized that in order to attract most of TV viewers in the Shirak region, we had to meet their needs and not just impose our own tastes and interests," recalled Arthur Ghandilyan, Tsayg's president. "Even given our achievements and current financial performance, it's been a constant struggle for us to survive in the market; but without any financial support, we probably would have worked hard for nothing."

In addition to broadcasting, Tsayg also became engaged in advertising and making commercials, which is now one of the company's main sources of income. Because of their substantial technical abilities, flexible service, and competitive pricing, Tsayg is the outlet of choice for most of the region's advertisers.

At present, one of the TV station's main activities is producing and distributing movies and music videos. Various music groups in the Shirak region have Tsayg film their videos at its special sound and video studio. After producing a video or a movie, the company then labels, packages, and distributes the final product. Tsayg's movies are mostly comedies with actors from local theaters. With their unique Gyumri sense of humor, these movies are immensely popular both in Shirak and throughout Armenia.

Film production became possible only after the Izmirlian-Eurasia Foundation SBLP provided two loans for video cameras, VCRs, a cassette-packaging machine, audio/video mixers, monitors, and a satellite dish. This new equipment has allowed the company to improve the quality of its broadcasting, advertising, and other revenue-producing services. The Izmirlian-Eurasia Foundation SBLP loan also helped Tsayg hire additional specialists to further increase the company's quality of service.

Tsayg has been able to use the increased revenues from these additional services to improve its offices and facilities. The 1988 earthquake severely damaged the building in which Tsayg is located. The company intends to privatize its building with funds from a third loan from the Izmirlian-Eurasia Foundation SBLP.