The Egyptian Radio and Television Union (ERTU; ar, إتحاد الإذاعة والتلفزيون المصري ''Itteh'ad Al-Edhaa'a wa at-Televezyon al-Mis'ri'') is the

public broadcaster Public broadcasting involves radio, television and other electronic media outlets whose primary mission is public service. Public broadcasters receive funding from diverse sources including license fees, individual contributions, public financing ...

of Egypt, operated by the Egyptian government. It is a member of the

European Broadcasting Union The European Broadcasting Union (EBU; french: Union européenne de radio-télévision, links=no, UER) is an alliance of Public broadcasting, public service media organisations whose countries are within the European Broadcasting Area or who ar ...

History

Egyptian Radio Egyptian Radio also known as the Egyptian Radio's General Program (إذاعة البرنامج العام transliterated as Iza'at El-Bernameg Al-Aam) also popularly known as Radio Cairo (in Arabic إذاعة القاهرة transliterated as Iza'at ...

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 Arabic (, ' ; , ' or ) is a Semitic languages, Semitic language spoken primarily across the Arab world.Semitic languages: an international handbook / edited by Stefan Weninger; in collaboration with Geoffrey Khan, Michael P. Streck, Janet C ...

هنا القاهرة pronounced Houna al Qaahira). It is considered the First Program (in

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 Middle East Radio ( ar, إذاعة الشرق الأوسط, Iza'at al Sharq al Awsat) is an Egyptian pan-Arab commercial radio station established in 1964 by the Egyptian Radio and Television Union (ERTU) owned by the Egyptian government. It star ...

(إذاعة الشرق الأوسط) in 1964. All four stations broadcast on high powered

medium wave Medium wave (MW) is the part of the medium frequency (MF) radio band used mainly for AM radio broadcasting. The spectrum provides about 120 channels with more limited sound quality than FM stations on the FM broadcast band. During the daytime ...

transmitters covering most of the Middle East and North and East Africa.

Egyptian television Television in Egypt is mainly received through free satellite, while analog terrestrial represents 41% of total viewers. The Central Agency for Public Mobilisation and Statistics (CAPMAS) said the average time an Egyptian spends watching televisio ...

began broadcasting six hours daily on 21 July 1960 with a state-run channel that held a monopoly on terrestrial broadcasts. In 1971 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 An information minister (also called minister of information) is a position in the governments of some countries responsible for dealing with information matters; it is often linked with censorship and propaganda. Sometimes the position is given to ...

. 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

* General Programme Radio (إذاعة البرنامج العام) or

, established in 1934 as the main channel of the network * Voice of the Arabs (إذاعة صوت العرب) established in 1953 as a pan-Arab station *The Second Program (البرنامج الثاني) established in 1957 **Now replaced and converted into the Cultural Radio (إذاعة البرنامج الثقافي) *

(إذاعة الشرق الأوسط) established in 1964 as a pan-Arab station *European Program Radio (إذاعة البرنامج الأوربي) broadcasting in English, French, Greek, Italian and German

Specialized (thematic) stations

*Cultural Radio (إذاعة البرنامج الثقافي) (replaced The Second Program) *Youth and Sports Radio (إذاعة الشباب والرياضة) (established in 1975) *Radio Greater Cairo (إذاعة القاهرة الكبرى) (established in 1981) *Songs Radio (إذاعة الأغاني) (established in 2000) *News and Music Radio (إذاعة الأخبار والموسيقى) *

Radio Masr Radio Masr is the first governmental radio station in Egypt to be transmitted on FM. It has launched on April 24, 2009. See also *ERTU * List of radio stations in Egypt Radio broadcasting in Egypt began in the 20th century, in 1924 as priva ...

or Egypt Radio (إذاعة راديو مصر) (established in 2009) *Al Qur'an al Karim Radio (إذاعة القران الكريم) Muslim religious broadcasting *Educational Radio (الإذاعة التعليمية) *Voice of Palestine (صوت فلسطين)

Regional programming radio stations

*North of Saaeed Radio (إذاعة شمال الصعيد) *Nile Valley Radio (إذاعة وادي النيل) *Middle Delta Radio (إذاعة وسط الدلتا) *Radio Alexandria (إذاعة الإسكندرية)

International stations

*Radio Cairo (International) including Radio Cairo World Service 1 to 7 (various channels, shortwave and satellite)

Television

National

* ERTU 1 (Al Oula) – Generalist and informative programming. It began its broadcasts in 1960. * ERTU 2 (Al Thanya) – focused on fiction, entertainment and current affairs programming, launched in 1961. * Al Masriya – Channel aimed at the Egyptian diaspora, available since 1990. * Channel Egypt

Regional

There are six state-owned

broadcast Broadcasting is the distribution of audio or video content to a dispersed audience via any electronic mass communications medium, but typically one using the electromagnetic spectrum ( radio waves), in a one-to-many model. Broadcasting began ...

and satellite channels in Egypt: * Six regional channels, each providing specialized services for a number of

governorates A governorate is an administrative division of a state. It is headed by a governor. As English-speaking nations tend to call regions administered by governors either State (administrative division), states or province, provinces, the term ''govern ...

: **Cairo Channel: broadcasting from

Cairo Cairo ( ; ar, القاهرة, al-Qāhirah, ) is the capital of Egypt and its largest city, home to 10 million people. It is also part of the largest urban agglomeration in Africa, the Arab world and the Middle East: The Greater Cairo metro ...

and covering Greater Cairo governorates, i.e.

Giza Giza (; sometimes spelled ''Gizah'' arz, الجيزة ' ) is the second-largest city in Egypt after Cairo and fourth-largest city in Africa after Kinshasa, Lagos and Cairo. It is the capital of Giza Governorate with a total population of 9.2 ...

and Qalioubia. **Alexandria Channel: broadcasting from

Alexandria Alexandria ( or ; ar, ٱلْإِسْكَنْدَرِيَّةُ ; grc-gre, Αλεξάνδρεια, Alexándria) is the second largest city in Egypt, and the largest city on the Mediterranean coast. Founded in by Alexander the Great, Alexandria ...

and covering

, Al Buhayrah and parts of Matrouh. **Canal Channel: broadcasting from

Ismailia Ismailia ( ar, الإسماعيلية ', ) is a city in north-eastern Egypt. Situated on the west bank of the Suez Canal, it is the capital of the Ismailia Governorate. The city has a population of 1,406,699 (or approximately 750,000, includi ...

and covering

Suez Canal The Suez Canal ( arz, قَنَاةُ ٱلسُّوَيْسِ, ') is an artificial sea-level waterway in Egypt, connecting the Mediterranean Sea to the Red Sea through the Isthmus of Suez and dividing Africa and Asia. The long canal is a popular ...

governorates, i.e.

Suez Suez ( ar, السويس '; ) is a seaport city (population of about 750,000 ) in north-eastern Egypt, located on the north coast of the Gulf of Suez (a branch of the Red Sea), near the southern terminus of the Suez Canal, having the same boun ...

and

Port Said Port Said ( ar, بورسعيد, Būrsaʿīd, ; grc, Πηλούσιον, Pēlousion) is a city that lies in northeast Egypt extending about along the coast of the Mediterranean Sea, north of the Suez Canal. With an approximate population of 6 ...

. **Delta Channel: broadcasting from

Tanta Tanta ( ar, طنطا ' , ) is a city in Egypt with the country's fifth largest populated area and 658,798 inhabitants as of 2018. Tanta is located between Cairo and Alexandria: north of Cairo and southeast of Alexandria. The capital of Gharbia ...

and covering Central

Delta Delta commonly refers to: * Delta (letter) (Δ or δ), a letter of the Greek alphabet * River delta, at a river mouth * D ( NATO phonetic alphabet: "Delta") * Delta Air Lines, US * Delta variant of SARS-CoV-2 that causes COVID-19 Delta may also ...

governorates, i.e. Al Gharbiyah, Al Minufiyah,

Ad Daqahliyah Dakahlia Governorate ( ar, محافظة الدقهلية ', ) is an Egyptian governorate lying northeast of Cairo. Its area is approximately 3,500 km2. Although the capital of the governorate is Mansoura, it got its name from the ancient to ...

, Kafr ash Shaykh and Dimyat. **Upper Channel: broadcasting from Minya and covering Northern

Upper Egypt Upper Egypt ( ar, صعيد مصر ', shortened to , , locally: ; ) is the southern portion of Egypt and is composed of the lands on both sides of the Nile that extend upriver from Lower Egypt in the north to Nubia in the south. In ancient ...

governorates, i.e. Minya, El-Fayoum,

Beni Suef Beni Suef ( ar, بني سويف, Baniswēf the capital city of the Beni Suef Governorate in Egypt. Beni Suef is the location of Beni Suef University. An important agricultural trade centre on the west bank of the Nile River, the city is located 11 ...

and

Asiut AsyutAlso spelled ''Assiout'' or ''Assiut'' ( ar, أسيوط ' , from ' ) is the capital of the modern Asyut Governorate in Egypt. It was built close to the ancient city of the same name, which is situated nearby. The modern city is located at ...

. **Thebes Channel: broadcasting from

Aswan Aswan (, also ; ar, أسوان, ʾAswān ; cop, Ⲥⲟⲩⲁⲛ ) is a city in Southern Egypt, and is the capital of the Aswan Governorate. Aswan is a busy market and tourist centre located just north of the Aswan Dam on the east bank of the ...

and covering Southern

governorates, i.e. Suhag,

Qena Qena ( ar, قنا ' , locally: ; cop, ⲕⲱⲛⲏ ''Konē'') is a city in Upper Egypt, and the capital of the Qena Governorate. Situated on the east bank of the Nile, it was known in antiquity as Kaine (Greek Καινή, meaning "new (city)"; ...

, Al Uqsur and

Nile Television

Nilesat Nilesat (; , ''or'' ) is an Egyptian company and the name of a series of Egyptian communications satellites. It was established in 1996 with the purpose of operating Egyptian satellites and their associated mission control center and ground st ...

allowed for the launch of several specialized TV channels in addition to Egyptian Satellite Channel (ESC) and

Nile TV Nile TV International is a public Egyptian television channel. It is the second Egyptian satellite television news network in Egypt, and the first Arab satellite channel to broadcast its programs in foreign languages; English, French, and former ...

. All are owned by the Egyptian state. Specialized channels include: * Al Nile *Nile Culture channel *Nile Comedy channel *Nile Drama channel, specialized in Drama, mainly movies and TV series. *Nile Educational channels, several channels for

primary Primary or primaries may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Music Groups and labels * Primary (band), from Australia * Primary (musician), hip hop musician and record producer from South Korea * Primary Music, Israeli record label Works * ...

, preparatory,

secondary Secondary may refer to: Science and nature * Secondary emission, of particles ** Secondary electrons, electrons generated as ionization products * The secondary winding, or the electrical or electronic circuit connected to the secondary winding i ...

, medical and language education. *Nile Family channel *Nile Sports channel *Nile Variety channel, specialized in various forms of entertainment mainly

concerts A concert is a live music performance in front of an audience. The performance may be by a single musician, sometimes then called a recital, or by a musical ensemble, such as an orchestra, choir, or musical band, band. Concerts are held in a w ...

music videos A music video is a video of variable duration, that integrates a music song or a music album with imagery that is produced for promotional or musical artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a music marketing device ...

, contests and some

talk shows A talk show (or chat show in British English) is a television programming or radio programming genre structured around the act of spontaneous conversation.Bernard M. Timberg, Robert J. Erler'' (2010Television Talk: A History of the TV Talk Show ...

. *Tanweer channel

References

External links

Official website
* ( ERTU Building) 1971 establishments in Egypt Publicly funded broadcasters European Broadcasting Union members Television stations in Egypt Arabic-language television stations Television channels and stations established in 1971 Mass media in Cairo State media Government agencies of Egypt {{Interwiki extra, qid=Q30314623