Since the night of the 11th of June, when the government decided, in an authoritative manner, to shut down ERT, stopping the digital transmission of our signal, we the employees continued broadcasting a full radio-television programme through the internet. EBU has been receiving the internet signal and retransmitting it, via satellite, to the analogue transmission centres. With “commando” operations, individual technicians with the aid of prosecutor’s authorities and the police, started “bringing down” the analogue transmitters, one by one.

But they did not manage to silence us. They may have restricted listening and viewing on radio and television, but they have made it skyrocket on computers. According to EBU data, since the 12th of June and until now, EBU has diffused 8.5 million live streams for a total of 4.4 million hours of viewing for 2.5 million unique viewers. During the same time period in Greece, The Press Project alone has been recording these two months 2.2 million absolutely unique visitors and 7.5 million total connections. Millions of listeners and viewers –and not listening and viewing ratings on operating receivers, that all the radio and television stations in Greece together do not come near that in absolute numbers!

The people seek and trust us for their information. It is characteristic that, on the first day the government broadcasted the amateur and improvised DT signal, the programme of ERT had an increase in visits by 25%. In the heart of the summer, when viewing of all channels takes a plunge, ERT viewing is recording daily 190,000 unique viewings, without counting the many retransmissions of the ERT programme by websites other than ERTOPEN.COM and regional television and radio stations.

Following EBU’s decision to stop live streaming, waiting for the government promises that DT will broadcast an informative programme on Wednesday 21/8 to be fulfilled, our contact with our audience does NOT stop. Our programme will continue being broadcast on the internet, with the same high picture quality, through ertopen.com, thepressproject.com and all other webpages and regional stations that retransmit us.

For 70 continuous days, EBU, a union of public television broadcasters’ managements, has been providing unprecedented support to the ERT employees’ struggle, for public television to remain open in Greece. Its contribution has not been only practical – it has symbolised the international outcry against the illegal, anti-constitutional and authoritative decision by the Greek government. By its institutional role, it was obliged to come into communication with the Greek government and follow the fulfillment of its promises for the broadcast of informative programme. We thank it for its support during all this time. Nevertheless, we do not understand its decision to stop transmitting ERT programmes, especially before checking the fulfillment of the commitments, that EBU itself had asked for the broadcast of an independent (editorially independent) informative programme on behalf of DT. For the millions of listeners and viewers, the only public radio-television broadcaster in Greece is and shall remain ERT!

70 days after, the informative programme we have been producing (fuller and of higher quality than what privately owned channels broadcast) is not our only weapon anymore, for us to demand jobs with dignity and the  overthrowing of the continuous irrational and illegal maneuvering for the creation of DT. The work we have been doing with consistency and professionalism during all this time is by now a demand by the society. The information we have been producing has found a place in the conscience of Greeks, wherever they may be, as the free voice of the ERT employees.