ERT (Greece)

ERT (Greece)
Name	ERT
Native name	Hellenic Broadcasting Corporation
Founded	1938
Dissolved	2013 (closed), 2015 (re-established)
Country	Greece
Headquarters	Athens
Language	Greek
Network type	Public broadcaster
Available	National, international

ERT (Greece)

The Hellenic Broadcasting Corporation is the state-owned public broadcaster of Greece with origins in the 1930s, providing radio and television services across Athens, Thessaloniki, Crete, Patras, and other regions. Founded under interwar policies influenced by Eleftherios Venizelos era institutional reforms, ERT has been central to national communications during the Metaxas Regime, the Greek junta (1967–1974), the Restoration of Democracy (1974), the Greek debt crisis (2009–2018), and the contemporary European Union media landscape.

History

ERT traces its lineage to experimental broadcasting in the late 1930s linked to the Hellenic Radio (1938), expanded under wartime circumstances involving World War II occupation logistics and postwar reconstruction tied to the Greek Civil War. During the Metapolitefsi period after 1974, ERT underwent structural changes parallel to reforms in the Hellenic Parliament, passing through administrations influenced by New Democracy (Greece), Panhellenic Socialist Movement, and other parties. In 2013 the broadcaster was abruptly closed by a decree of the Government of Greece under the premiership of Antonis Samaras, prompting protests involving trade unions, journalists, and civil society organizations; a transitional broadcaster, NERIT, operated until ERT's reinstatement by legislation during the Syriza government led by Alexis Tsipras in 2015, reflecting tensions between austerity measures tied to the European Central Bank, International Monetary Fund, and European Commission negotiations.

Organization and Ownership

ERT is a public corporation established by statutory law with governance mechanisms influenced by provisions of the Greek Constitution and oversight connections to parliamentary committees, independent regulators such as the National Council for Radio and Television, and wider European charter frameworks including the European Broadcasting Union membership rules. The corporation's board appointments and executive leadership have been battlegrounds among political parties including PASOK, Democratic Alignment, and The River (To Potami); labor representation involves Journalists' Union chapters and union federations like the GSEE. Infrastructure ownership covers transmitters in regions like Macedonia (Greece), Peloponnese, and the Aegean Islands, with archival collections tied to national repositories including the National Library of Greece and cultural institutions such as the Hellenic Film Archive.

Services and Operations

ERT operates multiple services across radio, television, and digital platforms, coordinating broadcast chains with technical standards from organizations like the International Telecommunication Union and equipment suppliers similar to Thomson Broadcast and Eutelsat satellite links. Regional studios in Heraklion, Ioannina, Volos, and Chania produce local news and cultural programming; emergency broadcasting partnerships connect to the Hellenic Police, Hellenic Fire Service, and civil protection mechanisms activated during events like wildfires in Attica and earthquakes exemplified by the 1981 Corinth earthquake. Digital transition initiatives aligned with the European Digital Agenda and negotiations with the International Telecommunications Satellite Organization enabled ERT's online streaming, on-demand archives, and mobile applications.

Programming and Channels

On television, the organization runs flagship channels historically including national public channels analogous to ERT1, ERT2, and NET successor streams, offering content ranging from parliamentary coverage of the Hellenic Parliament to cultural series on figures like Odysseas Elytis and documentaries on the Byzantine Empire. Sports rights negotiations covered events such as the Olympic Games, UEFA European Championship, and coverage of national teams like the Greece national football team; music programming has featured artists comparable to Mikis Theodorakis and festivals like the Athens Epidaurus Festival. Radio networks include services similar to First Programme, Second Programme, and regionally focused stations that air material on Greek folk music, Byzantine chant, and modern broadcasting collaborations with organizations such as the BBC and Deutsche Welle.

Funding and Governance

ERT's financing model has combined license-fee mechanisms, parliamentary budget allocations, advertising revenue, and commercial ventures, debated in legislative forums by MPs from New Democracy, Syriza, and PASOK. Reforms in the 21st century involved fiscal measures related to Greek government-debt crisis austerity programs negotiated with the Troika—the European Commission, IMF, and European Central Bank—which influenced staffing, collective bargaining with unions like Journalists' Union of the Athens Daily Newspapers (ESIEA), and transparency standards subject to scrutiny by the European Court of Human Rights on media freedom precedents.

Controversies and Political Influence

ERT has been at the center of disputes over alleged partisan bias, censorship episodes during the Greek junta (1967–1974), and the 2013 closure that triggered legal challenges, street mobilizations by organizations like PAME, and critiques from international bodies including the Reporters Without Borders and the European Broadcasting Union. Political influence claims implicated appointments linked to cabinets of Konstantinos Mitsotakis, Kostas Karamanlis, and later prime ministers, provoking debates in the Hellenic Ombudsman and parliamentary inquiries about editorial independence, pluralism, and compliance with European Convention on Human Rights standards.

International Relations and Cooperation

ERT maintains cooperative ties through the European Broadcasting Union, program exchanges with BBC World Service, cultural co-productions with Arte, and content distribution via satellites operated by Eutelsat and transnational partnerships engaging the Council of Europe cultural initiatives. During crises, ERT coordinated information-sharing with neighboring broadcasters such as RTT, CyBC, and the Albanian Radio Televizion to cover cross-border events like the Macedonian naming dispute and regional natural disasters, reflecting its role in pan-European media networks and diplomatic cultural outreach.

Category:Public broadcasting in Greece