Hellenic Broadcasting Corporation

The Hellenic Broadcasting Corporation (Ελληνική Ραδιοφωνία Τηλεόραση, Ellinikí Radiofonía Tileórasi, or ERT, literally "Hellenic Radio-Television" is the state-owned public radio and television broadcaster for Greece.

Following a government decision, the original company was abolished on 11 June 2013, with its 2,656 employees protesting against the closure and continuing broadcasting via a satellite transmission using European Broadcasting Union equipment. The EBU also began providing Internet streaming of the ERT broadcast.

On 12 June 2013, the Greek government proposed a successor organization, New Hellenic Radio, Internet and Television (Νέα Ελληνική Ραδιοφωνία, Ίντερνετ και Τηλεόραση), shortened to NERIT (ΝΕΡΙΤ), which  launched in August 2013 as "Public Television" (Δημόσια Τηλεόραση). As protests against the decision of the government (Coalition of New Democracy, PASOK, DIMAR) continued, on 15 June Prime Minister Samaras proposed returning ERT to service immediately, by having an emergency committee rehire selected employees. This offer was rejected by the ERT employees and Samaras' coalition partners.

On 17 June 2013, following an appeal by ERT's employees to the Council of State (Greece's highest administrative court), the Council suspended the government's decision to interrupt broadcasting and shut down ERT's frequencies and ordered the Finance Minister and the minister responsible for media, signing the decision, to take "all necessary organisational measures for the continuation of transmission of broadcasting services and operation of internet websites by a public broadcaster for the period until the establishment and operation of a new operator that will serve the public's interest". In his ruling, the Council's President found that the government's decision violated Law 1730/1987 which requires "the contribution by a public broadcaster to informing, educating and entertaining the Greek people and the diaspora". The Council's appellate division upheld the original Temporary Injunction three days later.

Until 24 October 2013, ERT's employees were able to offer the television programmes of NET (also simulcast in HD as 'ERT-HD') and ET3, and the radio programmes of ERA Athens, ERA Thessaloniki and Third Programme through conventional means (analogue and digital TV, FM, medium and shortwave radio broadcasts) as well as over the Internet. At approximately 18:11 EEST, ERT lost their satellite capacity on the Astra 23.5°E Astra 3B satellite after successful lobbying by the Greek government to the capacity provider SES S.A.. That halted most conventional TV and radio broadcasts that received the feed from the satellite, but did not affect the regional ERA affiliates that produced their programming locally, nor a large part of Athens which is served by a DVB-T transmitter located within the ERT HQs in Ayia Paraskevi. Web streaming wasn't affected at all.

As of 24 March 2014, more than nine months after the decision to close down ERT, the striking workers still run 17 radio stations (15 regional, two national) and a single TV channel (ET3), from the regional radio studios, and the ET3 Television Building in Thessaloniki. FM and AM transmissions continue throughout Greece with some interruptions and shortwave transmissions continue with a weaker transmission power. All radios are also available as webstreams. The TV channel is sporadically transmitted in conventional means (analogue transmitters in Thessaloniki), and is always available as a webstream.

In April 2015, the Hellenic Parliament approved the draft of re-opening ERT S.A. and also voted and approved the draft of re-opening this broadcaster.

As of 11 June 2015, ERT started broadcasting again.