ERT1

Overview

ERT1 is the flagship television channel of the Hellenic Broadcasting Corporation (ERT), Greece’s public service broadcaster. As the principal public generalist network in the country, it provides a broad schedule of news, current affairs, documentaries, drama, entertainment and cultural programming, fulfilling ERT’s remit to inform, educate and entertain Greek audiences.

History

The channel descends from Greece’s first public television service, which began broadcasting in 1966 under the state broadcaster of the era and developed through successive incarnations of Greek public radio and television, later consolidated as ERT. Its recent history includes a dramatic interruption: in June 2013 the Greek government abruptly shut down ERT as an austerity measure, taking the channel off the air, and a transitional broadcaster operated in the interim. ERT was re-established and returned to the airwaves in June 2015, with ERT1 resuming its role as the corporation’s flagship channel.

Programming

ERT1’s schedule is anchored by ERT’s national news bulletins and current affairs programmes, complemented by political discussion shows, documentaries, cultural magazines, Greek drama and comedy series, films and entertainment formats. The channel covers major national events, elections and religious and state ceremonies, and ERT’s coverage of significant international sporting events and the Eurovision Song Contest is closely associated with its channels. Educational and cultural content remains a distinguishing feature of its public service output.

Significance

As the flagship of Greece’s public broadcaster, ERT1 plays a central role in the country’s media landscape, providing an independent public news service in a market otherwise dominated by private networks. The channel’s 2013 closure and 2015 restoration became an internationally noted episode in debates about public service media and press freedom in Europe, underlining its symbolic importance to Greek public life. Today ERT1 is distributed nationwide free-to-air on digital terrestrial television, as well as via satellite, cable and IPTV, and its programmes are available on demand through ERT’s streaming platform ERTFLIX.