The Egyptian Radio and Television Union (ERTU), Arabic: اتحاد الاذاعة و التليفزيون المصريIttihād 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.
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.
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.
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.
