The Établissement de la Radiodiffusion-Télévision Tunisienne (ERTT) – French for ''Tunisian Radio and Television Establishment'' – was

Tunisia ) , image_map = Tunisia location (orthographic projection).svg , map_caption = Location of Tunisia in northern Africa , image_map2 = , capital = Tunis , largest_city = capital , ...

's state broadcasting organization from 1990 until 2007 before it was split into the ''Tunisian Television Establishment'' and the ''Tunisian Radio Establishment''. It operated two national television channels ( Télévision Tunisienne 1 and El Wataniya 2) and several radio stations (like

Radio Tunis Radio Tunis called Tunisian National Radio ( ar, الإذاعة الوطنية التونسية) or Radio of Tunisia (), founded in October 1938, is the primary radio station of Tunisia whose offices are located at Tunis. History Backgroun ...

). ERTT offered services in

Tunisian Arabic Tunisian Arabic, or simply Tunisian, is a set of dialects of Maghrebi Arabic spoken in Tunisia. It is known among its over 11 million speakers aeb, translit=Tounsi/Tounsiy, label=as, تونسي , "Tunisian" or "Everyday Language" to distin ...

Arabic Arabic (, ' ; , ' or ) is a Semitic language spoken primarily across the Arab world.Semitic languages: an international handbook / edited by Stefan Weninger; in collaboration with Geoffrey Khan, Michael P. Streck, Janet C. E.Watson; Walter ...

French French (french: français(e), link=no) may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France, and its various dialects and accents ** French people, a nation and ethnic group identified with Franc ...

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, an ethnic group or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance language *** Regional Ita ...

and Turkish.

History

Created by the decree of 25 April 1957, Radiodiffusion-télévision tunisienne (RTT) becomes ERTT by the law of 7 May 1990. It was a shareholder in

Euronews Euronews (styled on-air in lowercase as euronews) is a European television news network, headquartered in Lyon, France. The network began broadcasting on 1 January 1993 and covers world news from a European perspective. The majority of Eurone ...

, a member of the

European Broadcasting Union The European Broadcasting Union (EBU; french: Union européenne de radio-télévision, links=no, UER) is an alliance of public service media organisations whose countries are within the European Broadcasting Area or who are members of the C ...

(EBU) and the

African Union of Broadcasting The African Union of Broadcasting (AUB, french: Union Africaine de Radiodiffusion, ar, الاتحاد الأفريقي للبث, Alaitihad al'Afriqiu Lilbathi, pt, União Africana de Radiodifusão) is a professional body composed of the national ...

(AUB) and the flagship member of the

Arab States Broadcasting Union The Arab States Broadcasting Union (ASBU) ( ar, إتحاد إذاعات الدول العربية) is an Arab joint-action institution related to the League of Arab States and the Pan-Arab Association of Public Service and Commercial Broadcasters. ...

(ASBU). On 7 November 2006, President Zine el-Abidine Ben Ali announces the split of the establishment into two separate entities: Tunisian Radio Establishment (Arabic: مؤسسة الإذاعة التونسية) and Tunisian Television Establishment (Arabic: مؤسسة التلفزة التونسية). This split becomes effective on 31 August 2007. Both ERTT successor companies are members of the EBU, AUB and ASBU. In the late 1950s and early 1960s, television made its appearance with the transmission of

RAI RAI – Radiotelevisione italiana (; commercially styled as Rai since 2000; known until 1954 as Radio Audizioni Italiane) is the national public broadcasting company of Italy, owned by the Ministry of Economy and Finance. RAI operates many ter ...

broadcasts in the northeast of the country. From 1963, certain programs were broadcast by Tunisian public television on an experimental basis or on the occasion of special events. The first test broadcast took place in October 1965, with a program schedule lasting 75 minutes. The following year, regular broadcasts began with the official opening of RTT on May 31, 1966. Initially, the channel broadcast three hours a day, two hours in Arabic and one hour of French-language programs. In this context, it began developing cooperation with French-speaking television, in particular

Télévision Suisse Romande Télévision Suisse Romande ("Swiss Television Romandy") was a TV network with two channels: TSR 1 and TSR 2 (the two channels became RTS Un and RTS Deux after 2012). They were the main French language channels in Switzerland, part of SRG ...

, which provided it with programs and welcomed trainees in its Geneva studios. By 1976, Tunisian television began broadcasting in color, and in June 1983, the channel changed its name to RTT 1, in connection with the establishment of the French-language television channel (a collaboration between Tunisia's RTT and French broadcaster ORTF with programming from La deuxième chaîne (The Second Channel), later Antenne 2 following the breakup of ORTF and now

France 2 France 2 () is a French public national television channel. It is part of the state-owned France Télévisions group, along with France 3, France 4 and France 5. France Télévisions also participates in Arte and Euronews. Since 3:20 CET on 7 A ...

). RTT 2 was closed in 1989 and the following year replaced by Arabic language channel until 1994 when Canal 21 was launched. French programming from France 2 continued to be aired until the end of October 1999. The two national channels later changed their names several times and are currently

El Watania 1 El Watania 1, also known as Télévision Tunisienne 1, is the first Tunisian public national television channel. It is owned and operated by Télévision Tunisienne (formerly ERTT). Formerly named RTT (1966–1983), RTT 1 (1983–1992), TV7 (1992 ...

and

El Watania 2 El Watania 2, also known as Télévision Tunisienne 2, is the second Tunisian public national television channel. It is owned and operated by Télévision Tunisienne (formerly ERTT). Formerly known as Canal 21 (1994–2007), then as Tunisie 21 (2 ...

since 2011.

Services

Television

Between 1990 and 2007, ERTT owned two national public television channels: * RTT became RTT 1 in 1983, TV7 in 1992, Tunis 7 in 1997, Tunisie 7 in 2008 and since 2011,

(also known as Télévision Tunisienne 1) * Canal 21 became Tunisie 21 in 2007 and since 2011,

(also known as Télévision Tunisienne 2) Another channel, , was managed by RTT and broadcast in French between 1983 and 1989. It was replaced by , also managed by RTT and then by ERTT, which broadcast its Arabic language programming between 1990 and 1994.

Radio

Until 2007, ERTT owned nine public radio stations (four national and five regional broadcasters). The national stations were: *

(also known as Radio Nationale) * *

Radio Jeunes Radio is the technology of signaling and communicating using radio waves. Radio waves are electromagnetic waves of frequency between 30 hertz (Hz) and 300 gigahertz (GHz). They are generated by an electronic device called a transmit ...

Radio Tunis Chaîne Internationale (RTCI) is a national radio station in Tunisia, headquartered in the capital city, Tunis. Launched on 15 October 1938, it now broadcasts on 92.0 and 98.2 FM in Tunis. With its nationalization in February 1960, the station was renamed Chaîne inte ...

(RTCI) The regional stations were: *

Radio Sfax Radio Sfax is an Arabic language radio station in Sfax, Tunisia. The station was established in 1961 and focuses on regional news and issues.Jeter, ''et al.'' p.130. The station is located on Menzel Chaker Road in Sfax, just north of the Stade Ta ...

Radio Monastir Mounastir Radio is a public local radio created on August 1977. It broadcasts from Mounastir city targeting locals of Centre-East Tunisia. Content The radio broadcasts 19.5 hours a day with content targeting mainly the audiences of Centre-East ...

* Radio Gafsa * Radio Tataouine * Radio Le Kef The majority of the programs were in Arabic but some were in French and a very small amount in English, German, Italian and Spanish (exclusively on RTCI).

References

External links