The Egyptian Television began broadcasting on July 21, 1960. 50 years on, it has proved to be one of the most effective and influential mass medium. For half a century, Television has embraced the values and principles, the traditions and customs which represent the aspects of the Egyptian personality. The Egyptian Television has always been at the heart of events. As a mass medium, it has express
ed the pulse of the people: their sorrows and pains as well as their joys and victories. The Egyptian Television has furthermore achieved major leaps. When it was first launched, it broadcast 6 hours daily. Today, however, its total daily broadcast time on the various channels is put at 490 hours. It runs the internationally-recognised television station Nile TV. ERTU is a member of the European Broadcasting Union (EBU). ERTU is the body responsible for Egypt's obligations under the EBU. As such, in the presently-unlikely event of an Egyptian entry to the Eurovision Song Contest, ERTU would be responsible for organizing the domestic selection process and would likely provide for broadcast of the Contest on Nile TV. There are 8 state-owned broadcast or "over the air" channels in Egypt:
Two central channels: Channels 1 and 2. Six regional channels, each providing specialized services for a number of governorates:
Channel 3: broadcasting from Cairo and covering Greater Cairo governorates, i.e. Al Qahirah, Al Jizah and Al Qalyubiyah. Channel 4: broadcasting from Ismailia and covering Suez Canal governorates, i.e. Al Isma'iliyah, As Suways and Bur Sa'id. Channel 5: broadcasting from Alexandria and covering Al Iskandariyah, Al Buhayrah, and parts of Matruh. Channel 6: broadcasting from Tanta and covering Central Delta governorates, i.e. Al Gharbiyah, Al Minufiyah, Ad Daqahliyah, Kafr ash Shaykh and Dimyat. Channel 7:broadcasting from Al Minya city and covering Northern Upper Egypt governorates, i.e. Al Minya, Al Fayyum, Bani Suwayf and Assuit. Channel 8: broadcasting from Aswan and covering Southern Upper Egypt governorates, i.e. Suhag, Qina, Al Uqsur and Aswan. Egyptian Satellites (Nilesat):
On April 28, 1998 the first Egyptian satellite (Nilesat 101) was launched. The satellite was devoted to TV channels, information and multi-media transmission. It includes 12 digital transponders each capable for transmitting several TV and radio channels. The Nilesat broadcast covers Egypt, Arab countries in addition to parts of neighbouring countries such as Turkey, Iran, some Mediterranean and African countries. On August 17, 2000 another satellite (Nilesat 102) was launched to provide additional channels. Nilesat and Eutelsat has agreed in September 2005 to lease capacity on Eutelsat’s HOT BIRD 4 satellite after relocating it to 7 degrees West and renaming it to Nilesat 103, the satellite is scheduled to be repositioned to this location in second quarter 2006 after the launch and entry into service of Eutelsat’s HOT BIRD 7A and HOT BIRD 8 satellites. 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:
Nile Drama channel specialized in Drama, mainly movies and TV series. Nile Variety channel specialized in various forms of entertainment mainly concerts, music videos, contests and some talk shows. Nile Culture channel. Nile Sports channel. Tanweer channel
Nile Family channel. Nile Comedy channel. Nile News channel. Nile Educational channels, several channels for primary, preparatory, secondary, medical and language education.
