Radio in Estonia started on 21 October 1918, when special station for radio communications () was established by
Estonian Defence Ministry
The Ministry of Defence of the Republic of Estonia ( et, Eesti Vabariigi Kaitseministeerium) and its head, the Minister of Defence, are responsible for organizing national defence. It is Estonia's ministry of defence. The mission of the Ministry ...
.
In February 1920 the radio apparatus was demonstrated on the first time.
The first radio test programme took place in
Haapsalu
Haapsalu () is a seaside resort town located on the west coast of Estonia. It is the administrative centre of Lääne County, and on 1 January 2020 it had a population of 9,375.
Description
Haapsalu has been well known for centuries for its ...
. To centralize the radio activities, organization "Raadio-Ringhääling" was established on 1 November 1924. On 18 December 1926 the Kopli radio station set up in Tallinn; this denotes the starting of regular radio broadcasting.
In 1940, 90,000 radio apparatus were owned by Estonians.
Soviet era
Restoration of independence
In 2007,
Estonian Radio
Eesti Raadio (Estonian Radio, ER) was the public service radio broadcaster of Estonia that, at the time of closure, operated five national radio stations. It was closed in 2007 as a result of a merger with Eesti Televisioon (Estonian Television, ...
and
Estonian Television
Eesti Televisioon (ETV) ( en, Estonian Television) is an Estonian free-to-air television channel owned and operated by Estonian Public Broadcasting. It made its first broadcast on 19 July 1955.
History
Eesti Televisioon (''Estonian Televis ...
were merged, and
Eesti Rahvusringhääling
Eesti Rahvusringhääling (ERR) – ''Estonian Public Broadcasting'' – is a publicly funded and owned radio and television organisation created in Estonia on 1 June 2007 to take over the functions of the formerly separate Eesti Raadio ...
(Estonian Public Broadcasting, ERR) was established. ERR has five radio stations. There are around 35 private radio stations with programmes broadcast both in Estonian and in Russian, and radio is the primary source of information for 51% of Estonians.
List of radio stations
References
{{Radio in Europe