ERTU

The **Egyptian Radio and Television Union** (**ERTU**),  _Ittihād al-Idhā‘ah wal-Tilīfizyūn al-Miṣrī_), formerly the Arab Radio and Television Union, is the public broadcaster of Egypt, operated by the Egyptian government. It is a member of the European Broadcasting Union.

## History

Egyptian Radio began broadcasting on 31 May 1934 in agreement with the Marconi Company. The General Manager of the station was Said Basha Lotfi 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 هنا القاهرة pronounced Houna al Qaahira). It is considered the First Program (in Arabic البرنامج الأول) of the ERTU.

Later on three main new radio channels were added, 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 (إذاعة الشرق الأوسط) in 1964. All four stations broadcast on high powered medium wave transmitters covering most of the Middle East and North and East Africa.

## ERTU Radio Networks

- General stations
- Egyptian Radio|General Programme Radio (إذاعة البرنامج العام) or Egyptian Radio (established 1934) - main channel of the network
- Voice of the Arabs (إذاعة صوت العرب) (established 1953 as a pan-Arab station)
- The Second Program (البرنامج الثاني) (established in 1957)
    - Now converted into the Cultural Radio (إذاعة البرنامج الثقافي) <small>(replacing The Second Program)</small>
- Middle East Radio (إذاعة الشرق الأوسط) (established 1964 as a pan-Arab station)
- European Program Radio (إذاعة البرنامج الأوربي) broadcasting in English, French, Greek, Italian, German
- Specialized (thematic) stations
- Cultural Radio (إذاعة البرنامج الثقافي) <small>(replacing The Second Program)</small>
- Youth and Sports Radio (إذاعة الشباب والرياضة) (established 1975)
- Radio Greater Cairo (إذاعة القاهرة الكبرى) (established 1981)
- Songs Radio (إذاعة الأغاني) (established 2000)
- News and Music Radio (إذاعة الأخبار والموسيقى)
- Radio Masr or Egypt Radio (إذاعة راديو مصر) (established 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)

## ERTU Television Networks

- Channel 1
- Channel 2
- Channel 3
- Channel Egypt

## Regional Television Network

There are six state-owned broadcast and satellite channels in Egypt:
- Six regional channels, each providing specialized services for a number of governorates:
    - Cairo Channel: broadcasting from Cairo and covering Greater Cairo governorates, i.e. Cairo, Giza and Qalioubia.
    - Canal Channel: broadcasting from Ismailia and covering Suez Canal governorates, i.e. Ismailia, Suez and Port Said.
    - Alexandria Channel: broadcasting from Alexandria and covering Alexandria, Al Buhayrah, and parts of Matrouh.
    - Delta Channel: broadcasting from Tanta and covering Central Delta governorates, i.e. Gharbia Al Gharbiyah, Al Minufiyah, Ad Daqahliyah, Kafr ash Shaykh and Dimyat.
    - Upper Channel: broadcasting from Minya and covering Northern Upper Egypt governorates, i.e. Minya, El-Fayoum, Beni Suef and Asiut.
    - Thebes Channel: broadcasting from Aswan and covering Southern Upper Egypt governorates, i.e. Suhag, Qena, Al Uqsur and Aswan.

## Nile Television Network

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
- Nile Comedy channel
- Nile Drama channel, specialized in Drama, mainly movies and TV series.
- Nile Educational channels, several channels for primary, preparatory, secondary, medical and language education.
- Nile Family channel
- Nile Sports channel
- Nile Variety channel, specialized in various forms of entertainment mainly concerts, music videos, contests and some talk shows.
- Tanweer channel

## Infobox (broadcasting network)

- **network name**: Egyptian Radio and Television Union
 اتحاد الاذاعة و التليفزيون المصري
- **network logo**: ERTU Logo.gif
- **logo size**: 150px
- **country**: Egypt
- **headquarters**: Cairo, Egypt
- **network type**: Terrestrial television, Broadcast radio, television and Website, online
- **available**: National
International
- **owner**: Government of Egypt
- **website**: [http://www.ertu.org/ www.ertu.org]