Egyptian Radio and Television Union
إتحاد الإذاعة والتلفزيون المصري
TypeBroadcast radio, television and online
Country
Egypt
AvailabilityNational; International
HeadquartersERTU Building, Cairo, Egypt
OwnerGovernment of Egypt
Launch date
1945; 78 years ago (1945)
Former names
Egyptian State Broadcasting
Official website
dotnet.ertu.org

The Egyptian Radio and Television Union (ERTU; Arabic: إتحاد الإذاعة والتلفزيون المصري Itteh'ad Al-Edhaa'a wa at-Televezyon al-Mis'ri) is the public broadcaster of Egypt, operated by the Egyptian government. It is a member of the European Broadcasting Union.

History

Egyptian Radio began broadcasting on 31 May 1934 in agreement with the Marconi Company. The General Manager of the station for the period was Said Basha Lotfi who presided over the station from May 1934 to December 1947. In December 1947, the contract with Marconi was suspended in favour of an Egyptian national broadcasting station. The station is known also for its call "This is Cairo" (in Arabic هنا القاهرة pronounced Houna al Qaahira). It is considered the First Program (in Arabic البرنامج الأول) of the ERTU.

Later on three main new radio channels were added, namely the pan-Arab The Voice of the Arabs (صوت العرب) in 1953, Egyptian Radio's Second Programme (البرنامج الثاني) in 1957, and the pan-Arab Middle East Radio (إذاعة الشرق الأوسط) in 1964. All four stations broadcast on high powered medium wave transmitters covering most of the Middle East and North and East Africa.

Egyptian television began broadcasting six hours daily on 21 July 1960, with a state-run channel that held a monopoly on terrestrial broadcasts.

In 1971,[1] a new decree established the Arab Radio and Television Union, and created four distinct sectors: radio, television, engineering, and finance, each of which had a chairman who reported directly to the minister of information. The name of the Union was changed to the Egyptian Radio and Television Union, the name by which it is still known. Today, its total daily broadcast time on its various channels amounts to 490 hours.

Already in 1950 its predecessor the Egyptian State Broadcasting (الإذاعة الحكومية المصرية) was one of the founding members of the European Broadcasting Union in 1950. After the admittance of the Israel Broadcasting Service in 1958, it cancelled its active memberships, as did the Syrian Broadcasting Services. It was readmitted as an active member 1 January 1985.

Services

Radio

General stations

Specialized (thematic) stations

Regional programming radio stations

International stations

Television

National

Regional

There are six state-owned broadcast and satellite channels in Egypt:

Nile Television

Nilesat allowed for the launch of several specialized TV channels in addition to Egyptian Satellite Channel (ESC) and Nile TV. All are owned by the Egyptian state.

Specialized channels include:

See also

References

  1. ^ Hussein Amin. "Strengthening the Rule of Law and Integrity in the Arab World" (PDF). Arab Center for the Development of the Rule of Law and Integrity. Archived (PDF) from the original on 4 September 2012. Retrieved 5 October 2014.
  2. ^ "Untitled Document". Archived from the original on 2011-07-01. Retrieved 2011-05-22.
  3. ^ http://www.ertu.org/nile_chan/NL_comedy.html[permanent dead link]
  4. ^ "Untitled Document". Archived from the original on 2011-07-01. Retrieved 2011-05-22.
  5. ^ "Untitled Document". Archived from the original on 2011-07-01. Retrieved 2011-05-22.
  6. ^ "Untitled Document". Archived from the original on 2011-07-01. Retrieved 2011-05-22.
  7. ^ "Untitled Document". Archived from the original on 2011-07-14. Retrieved 2011-05-22.
  8. ^ "Untitled Document". Archived from the original on 2011-07-25. Retrieved 2011-05-22.
  9. ^ "Untitled Document". Archived from the original on 2011-05-02. Retrieved 2011-05-22.

External links

Media related to Egyptian Radio and Television Union at Wikimedia Commons

Members of the European Broadcasting Union
Authority control
Categories