ERT

World Screen Weekly, January 8, 2009

CHANNEL: ERT

COUNTRY: Greece

LAUNCH DATE: Greek Public Television was first broadcast in 1965. In 1987, its television and radio stations were united into a single radio-television organization, ERT.

OWNERSHIP: ERT is a public broadcaster, financed through a license fee and advertising.

DISTRIBUTION: Free to air across all of Greece. ERT also broadcasts four channels that are distributed through a digital terrestrial platform: Cine+, Sport+, Prisma+ and Info+.

DESCRIPTION: The largest broadcaster in Greece, ERT’s main focus is on providing reliable and up-to-date information for its diverse audience.

SENIOR MANAGEMENT:


Chairman of the Board & Managing Director: Christos Panagopoulos


CEO: Kostas Kekis


CEO: Panos Loukakos 


General Manager, Television: Dimitris Gontikas


General Manager, News and Current Affairs: Dimitris Michalelis

PROGRAMMING STRATEGY: Financed by the public through a license fee, ERT aims to be a destination viewers can rely on for the latest domestic and international developments, as well as educational programming. "We have a quite different way of thinking regarding informative and entertainment programs," explains Dimitris Gontikas, ERT’s general manager of television. "Our main criteria are quality and reliability," in contrast to many private channels, which are more focused on providing entertainment programs. "ERT has a totally different way of thinking regarding its entertainment programming but also its continuous information to the public."

A little less than half its schedule is made up of imported programming, and when stocking this 40 percent, Gontikas says ERT "buys from almost all over the world. Regarding the type of programming we usually buy, we buy foreign films, children’s programming and documentaries that interest the Greek viewer." However the pubcaster produces many documentaries for itself, along with culture programs and series. ERT also finances Greek cinematography, co-producing more than ten feature-length films per year.

"Over recent years, ERT has been successful in significantly increasing viewing and listening ratings in an environment of intense competition with privately owned television channels and radio stations," says Gontikas. "It has also approached new and more dynamic categories of viewing and listening audiences by offering higher quality information and educational programs. ERT’s television viewing ratio greatly increases during periods that are marked by world events such as the war in Iraq, national elections, the E.U. accession, Eurovision song contests, European football championship, etc."

Serving as a companion piece, the ERT website is packed with news, available in 11 languages, sports highlights and information on events. A strong team is responsible for "keeping the site alive and updated 24 hours a day, every day." Gontikas says that future plans include developing more content for new media, like mobile and broadband.

WHAT’S NEW: American and European feature films will be featured prominently by ERT in the coming months. Earlier this year, Disney-ABC-ESPN Television renewed its multi-year volume deal with the Greek pubcaster for a range of content. The deal covers movies from the portfolios of Walt Disney Pictures, Disney/Pixar, Touchstone Pictures and Miramax Films, as well as hit series from Disney Channel, Playhouse Disney and ABC Studios.

WEBSITE: www.ert.gr