Hellenic Radio

The Hellenic Radio (Greek: Ελληνική Ραδιοφωνία; or ERA) was the main public radio broadcaster in Greece. Founded in 1987 as a subsidiary of public broadcaster Hellenic Broadcasting Corporation (ERT), it broadcast four domestic radio channels and the multilingual shortwave radio channel Voice of Greece.

History

After the collapse of the Regime of the Colonels, the conservative Karamanlis government brought the main public television channel EIRT under civilian government control. It was renamed to Hellenic Broadcasting Corporation (ERT). Both the second domestic television channel (later renamed ERT2) and public radio broadcasting however remained under the auspices of the Armed Forces Information Service (YENED).

Only in 1982, the socialist Papandreou government dissolved YENED and placed all public broadcasting under civilian government control. In 1987, the four domestic channels ERA 1, ERA 2, ERA 3 and ERA 4 (later: ERA Sport) as well as the multilingual shortwave service Voice of Greece (ERA 5) were consolidated under the new legal structure Hellenic Radio, a subsidiary of the now overarching Hellenic Broadcasting Corporation (ERT).

The same 1987 law provided for the establishment of municipal and private-sector stations. This wasn't before the first municipal station Athens 98.4 FM already went on air on 31 May 1987 without a proper license, but backed by then-mayor of Athens Miltiadis Evert. Subsequently a number of stations opened and state radio gradually declined in both audience and importance, with large media corporations gaining ground. By 2002, Hellenic Radio however still maintained 19 regional stations throughout the country.

Radio stations

ERA regional radio

• ERA Aegean
• ERA Volos
• ERA Zakynthos
• ERA Heraklion
• ERA Ioannina
• ERA Kavala
• ERA Kalamata
• ERA Corfu
• ERA Kozani
• ERA Komotini
• ERA Larissa
• ERA Orestiadas
• ERA Patras
• ERA Tower
• ERA Rhodes
• ERA Serres
• ERA Tripoli
• ERA Florina
• ERA Chania

On all weekdays from 7:00 to 10:00 the regional radio stations of the ERA network used to send a local news program, covering the individual station's broadcasting area. This was followed by a news program covering the larger region. After noon, the stations broadcast an entertainment program, partly adopted from ERA NET, ERA 2 and ERA Sport.

Some regional radio stations produced their own local program at a second local news window between 18:00 and 20:00, and a mostly entertaining weekend program.

Domestic and special interest stations

• ERA NET
• ERA 2
• ERA 3
• ERA Sport
• Kosmos
• ERA Diethnes Diktyo
• Filia
• 102 FM
• 9,58 FM
• Trito Programma Vrahea
• ERA Sports Thessaloniki