ERT saga in Greece continues

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Greece's public broadcaster ERT (Hellenic Broadcasting Corporation), which earlier this month had been shut down by the Greek government, has been ordered back on air by a Greek court.

 

Previously, ERT had been abruptly shut down on June 12 as part of government plans to streamline the broadcaster, with the government referring to ERT as a "haven of waste". Despite promises by the government that a new, smaller state broadcaster would be on the air by the end of the summer, ERT employees holed themselves up inside the main building while large-scale protests and classical concerts in support of ERT took place in Athens. With help from the European Broadcasting Union (EBU), ERT staff continues to broadcast over satellite and online via the EBU's website. The shutdown has drawn claims of censorship and totalitarianism by protesters, despite government defense of the decision.

 

The Greek Council of State's ruling allows ERT terrestrial transmissions to resume, but the government plan to relaunch ERT can proceed.

 

(Edited to provide a little more clarity.)

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Well, the previous Greek government did launch a new public broadcaster in 2014: NERIT. As it turns out, the new Syriza government in the country will try and get ERT reinstated on Greece's airwaves, so NERIT might become the world's shortest-lived public broadcaster if ERT returns to Greek television and radio services.

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Well, the previous Greek government did launch a new public broadcaster in 2014: NERIT. As it turns out, the new Syriza government in the country will try and get ERT reinstated on Greece's airwaves, so NERIT might become the world's shortest-lived public broadcaster if ERT returns to Greek television and radio services.

Could NERIT and ERT consolidate into a BBC1 and BBC2 kind of operation?

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Could NERIT and ERT consolidate into a BBC1 and BBC2 kind of operation?

 

Maybe, but I would see ERT being the dominant part if that were to happen. The ERT staffers, Syriza, and even the EBU would all want that to happen.

 

The thing is, NERIT and ERT are broadcasters, not channels. NERIT has at least four channels, ERT has about four channels. All I know is that whatever happens during consolidation, the final product will likely be called "ERT".

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Could NERIT and ERT consolidate into a BBC1 and BBC2 kind of operation?

 

ERT (ET1) also had two sister channels during its existence: NET (ET2) and ET3.

 

NERIT (N1) also has a sister channel: N Plus.

 

Not sure how a consolidation would work.

[TheNewsFan 1]

The Greek parliament has passed a bill today to re-open the former state broadcaster whose abrupt closure by the previous government caused a wave of controversy.