Egyptian Radio and Television Union

The National Media Authority (NTU; Arabic: الهيئة الوطنية للإعلام, romanized: al-Hayʾa l-Waṭaniyya li-l-ʾIʿlām), known until 2017 as Egyptian Radio and Television Union (ERTU; Arabic: اتحاد الإذاعة والتلفزيون المصري, romanized: Ittiḥād al-ʾIdhāʿa wa-t-Tilifizyōn al-Miṣrī), is the public broadcaster of Egypt, operated by the Egyptian government. It is a member of the European Broadcasting Union.

National Media Authority
الهيئة الوطنية للإعلام
TypeBroadcast radio, television and online
Country
Egypt
AvailabilityNational; international
HeadquartersERTU Building, Cairo, Egypt
OwnerGovernment of Egypt
Launch date
1971 (1971)
Former names
Egyptian State Broadcasting (الإذاعة الحكومية المصرية)
Egyptian Radio and Television Union (اتحاد الإذاعة والتلفزيون المصري)
Official website
maspero.eg

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" (Arabic: هنا القاهرة, romanized: Hunā l-Qāhira). It is considered the "First Program" (البرنامج الأول, al-Barnāmaj al-ʾAwwal) of the ERTU.

Later on three main new radio channels were added, namely the pan-Arab Voice of the Arabs (صوت العرب, Ṣawt al-ʿArab) in 1953, Egyptian Radio's Second Programme (البرنامج الثاني, al-Barnāmaj ath-Thānī) in 1957, and the pan-Arab Middle East Radio (إذاعة الشرق الأوسط, ʾIdhāʿat ash-Sharq al-ʾAwsaṭ) 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, al-ʾIdhāʿa l-Ḥukūmiyya l-Miṣriyya), 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

General stations
  • General Programme Radio (إذاعة البرنامج العام, ʾIdhāʿat al-Barnāmaj al-ʿĀmm) or Egyptian Radio – established in 1934 as the main channel of the network
  • Voice of the Arabs (إذاعة صوت العرب, ʾIdhāʿat Ṣawt al-ʿArab) – established in 1953 as a pan-Arab station
  • Second Program (البرنامج الثاني, al-Barnāmaj ath-Thānī) – established in 1957 (now replaced and converted into the Cultural Radio)
  • Middle East Radio (إذاعة الشرق الأوسط, ʾIdhāʿat ash-Sharq al-ʾAwsaṭ) – established in 1964 as a pan-Arab station
  • European Program Radio (إذاعة البرنامج الأوربي, ʾIdhāʿat al-Barnāmaj al-ʾŌrōbbī) – broadcasting in English, French, Greek, Italian and German

Specialized (thematic) stations
  • Cultural Radio (إذاعة البرنامج الثقافي, ʾIdhāʿat al-Barnāmaj ath-ʿThaqāfī) – replaced the Second Program
  • Youth and Sports Radio (إذاعة الشباب والرياضة, ʾIdhāʿat ash-Shabāb wa-r-ʾRiyāḍa) – established in 1975)
  • Radio Greater Cairo (إذاعة القاهرة الكبرى, ʾIdhāʿat al-Qāhira l-Kubrā) – established in 1981
  • Songs Radio (إذاعة الأغاني, ʾIdhāʿat al-ʾAghānī) – established in 2000
  • News and Music Radio (إذاعة الأخبار والموسيقى, ʾIdhāʿat al-ʾAkhbār wa-l-Mūsīqā)
  • Radio Masr or (إذاعة راديو مصر, ʾIdhāʿat Rādiyō Miṣr) or Egypt Radio – established in 2009
  • Al Qur'an al Karim Radio (إذاعة القرآن الكريم, ʾIdhāʿat al-Qurʾān al-Karīm) – Muslim religious broadcasting
  • Educational Radio (الإذاعة التعليمية, al-ʾIdhāʿa t-Taʿlīmiyya)
  • Voice of Palestine (صوت فلسطين, Ṣawt Filasṭīn)

Regional programming radio stations
  • North of Saaeed Radio (إذاعة شمال الصعيد, ʾIdhāʿat Shamāl aṣ-Ṣaʿīd)
  • Nile Valley Radio (إذاعة وادي النيل, ʾIdhāʿat Wādī n-Nīl)
  • Middle Delta Radio (إذاعة وسط الدلتا, ʾIdhāʿat Wasṭ ad-Diltā)
  • Radio Alexandria (إذاعة الإسكندرية, ʾIdhāʿat al-ʾIskandariyya)

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

National
  • ERTU 1 – Generalist and informative programming. It began its broadcasts in 1960.
  • ERTU 2 – 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 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:

  • Al Nile
  • Nile Culture channel[2]
  • Nile Comedy channel[3]
  • Nile Drama channel,[4] specialized in Drama, mainly movies and TV series.
  • Nile Educational channels,[5] several channels for primary, preparatory, secondary, medical and language education.
  • Nile Family channel[6]
  • Nile Sports channel[7]
  • Nile Variety channel,[8] specialized in various forms of entertainment mainly concerts, music videos, contests and some talk shows.
  • Tanweer channel[9]

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%5B%5D
  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.

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