HellasHab

Just saw an ad on Odyssey- ERT World is officially back! It said that for the rest of March they will continue to alternate between ERT World and Greek Cinema programming. ERT World will return full time in April. I wonder if it will show up on Dish in the USA soon as well?!

Its airing here on Bell Sat as well. I wonder if they have picked up the rights to ERT World or if they are just airing the online stream illegally?! No, actually you are paying for ERT World, that is what the channel should be airing.

This channel used to be ERT World Canada, when ERT shut down the channel remained on the air with programming from Greek Cinema being aired on what was supposed to be a temporary basis. Fast forward, 3-4 years and ERT has been resurrected but is a mess and ERT World is still nowhere to be seen (at least internationally). For some inexplicable reason, the jokers at OTN have kept the channel going with this 'replacement' programming (which is essentially Greek Cinema with a different channel name in the guide), instead of shutting it down and replacing it with another channel. Also, for some inexplicable reason Bell has kept this channel in their lineup, neither dropping it nor replacing it with another channel. Both Rogers and Videotron Cable also carried ERT World and both have subsequently dropped this channel from their lineup (Rogers dropped it shortly after ERT shut down in Greece) and replaced it with Alpha Sat. I have been watching this gong show for a while now waiting to see what will happen. They should either just change the name in the guide to 'Greek Cinema' or drop the fake ERT channel and add another one in its place but it seems that here like in Greece simple logic is too much for these people!?

No change on Bell Sat, the channel still says 'ERT' in the guide but is airing programming from Greek Cinema. What you saw must have been some sort of technical glitch. I don't see ERT World launching any time soon, from what I have read ERT is a mess these days so I don't think expanding coverage of ERT World is really a priority right now. I don't really care for this channel coming back again, with all the constant changes in government in Greece I don't think it will be the same as it was before it was shut down. The current government, from what I have read, is trying to operate it as a state broadcaster- they want to have direct control over all aspects and the top brass at ERT are not happy about this (looks like one big power struggle). I have been trying to get stupid Bell to pull the plug on the existing 'ERT' channel and replace it with Alpha Sat for a while now but they won't budge. I don't get it, why keep a lame duck channel that is airing replacement programming when you can very easily replace it with another channel that will arguably be more popular with subscribers?! The idiots at OTN do not even acknowledge that this 'ERT' channel even exists and they friggin own it!? They run this ad constantly that lists all the channels they operate and when they mention Bell Satellite all its says is 'Antenna Satellite and MEGA Cosmos'- Hello?, Bell Sat carries 3 channels not 2.

This TV license issue, like most things in Greece, has turned into one big debacle- are Greek politicians incapable of doing anything right or is the system so corrupted that it makes even good, positive attempts at change look bad?! I think its anyone's guess where things go from here, the last thing I read was that the government was going to issue temporary licenses to all existing channels- is that still happening or are they going to attempt another auction?! Interesting news, someone is actually going to launch an all-news channel in Greece, something that is long overdue IMO. I think ERT should convert one of the Athens based channels to a news channel, although with the government being broke they most likely can't afford to a launch a news channel at this point. That's probably a good thing anyway as with the political system in Greece it would just turn into a government mouthpiece instead of a serious news channel. Skai parted ways with NGTV a while back, now I see why- they intend to launch their own international service. I have read that they have been trying to form some sort of partnership with Alpha, to share programming, so far no deal has been reached. It would be cool if the international channel devoted a part of its schedule to air a live block from their news channel that they will be launching. That is what I said as well MCIBUS, of course logic doesn't work in a corrupted cesspool like Greece (or for that matter, any other country with rampant corruption, which these days seems to be most countries around the world ). I also don't understand what the deal was with the auction, normal practice would be to set a price for the license and say 'going forward anyone who wants to operate a TV channel in this country needs to have a license and the cost of the license is X amount'. I can see why the government did this (collect as much money as possible) but why did the channel owners agree to an auction where they could wind up (and eventually did) pay ridiculous amounts of money?!

Is this an actual service or just a series of apps with various people uploading content and streaming the various channels?! I see no mention of ANT1 Satellite, which indicates that its not a legal service, meaning at some point these channels might crack down and you will lose access to them and the content that belongs to them. ANT1 from what I have seen is very aggressive in protecting access to their channel and content, going after anyone who tries to pirate their service. Heck these guys don't even offer their web TV service outside of Greece which I don't understand?! My dad is not home for the news so I have him watch it online later but stupid ANT1 blocks access to their own friggin' newscast- WTH?! All other Greek channels offer free access to their newscasts except these jokers. I could understand about the foreign programs that they don't have the rights to air outside of Greece but the news?? Odyssey TV here in Canada has been running an annoying ad for a while now about how they are the only legal provider in Canada of ANT1 Satellite, Alpha Sat, Mega Cosmos, Greek Cinema & SportPlus. I couldn't figure out what the reason was for this ad as I am not aware of any other service offering Greek channels but after reading your post I bet this is what they are griping about. ERT, Skai & many of the regional stations in Greece offer free live streams off their website, which means you won't lose access to the channel.

MEGA hasn't shut down, although they are heading in that direction. As mentioned above, they have been eliminated from the process where the government will be awarding licenses to 4 channels that will be broadcasting as national stations. The channel is in bad shape thanks to the corrupt owners who run it and have saddled it with an enormous amount of debt that it cannot pay back in the current economic climate in Greece. I would like to see the channel file for bankruptcy protection so that they can get rid of the debt AND the corrupt ego maniacs who currently have an ownership stake. From there, I am hopeful someone will buy up the assets (their programming library has value) so that the channel can re-launch under new stable ownership and the employees can keep their jobs. As for this whole licensing process, it reeks of cronyism and demonstrates IMO that the current government is as corrupt as all the previous ones. It should not be up to the government to decide how many channels the market can bear and how many can survive financially- that should be up to the market itself. They should just say 'anyone who wants to operate a TV channel from here on out will be required to purchase a license and the license costs 'X' amount. Let anyone who can afford to pay for the license have one and then the strong will survive and the weak will not.

There is no way they will be allowed to leave, they didn't let Greece leave which is in worse shape financially and is a mere bit player in the game so I doubt very much that the UK will be allowed to leave either. They will fix the vote if they have to just like the did with the Scottish independence vote.

You just answered your own question- their programming library has value, that is why someone would buy it. They produced a lot of hit shows over the years, many of the top ones I believe still re-air to this day. MEGA is in a heap of trouble, I have been following the unfolding events for a while now and it doesn't look good for the future of this channel. For a while now the egomaniac owners have been fighting over the operating budget as none of them want to put in anymore of their own money. They failed to come to an agreement several times but recently I read something about a new investor coming on board, not sure if he was going to buy out one of the existing shareholders or just become a new shareholder himself. It appears as though this deal may have fallen out as well, not clear on what has happened. The latest news I read was that 2 of the banks that MEGA owes money to have called in the loan which means if they don't find the money to pay them what they owe them the channel could shut down. Even if it shuts down, I think someone will swoop in and buy up the assets (programming library) from the bank and re-start the channel from the beginning- perhaps even one of the existing owners. I have read about the poor financial situation of the main Greek channels for a while now but have yet to see any of them fail. If they are in such bad shape financially then how are they able to keep operating?! Thus far I think only smaller, regional or local stations have shut down.

I think this might be one of the goals here, why else would you limit the amount of private stations whom you stand to make money from through this license fee?! So, according to this think tank Greece can only support 4 private stations yet have no problem operating 3 public stations?! :rolleyes: ERT should be comprised of 2 channels IMO, one based in Athens and one in Thessaloniki- 3 is not needed and is to much for a country Greece's size. FYI, there is no Skai International Grk101, at least as far as I know?! NGTV used to air programming from Skai but not anymore, their website only lists programming from Star, Epsilon and Action24.

They don't even list Canada on their website, the channel launched on Bell Fibe over a year ago but they still haven't updated their website. Is the schedule correct and if it is why can they find time to update the schedule but cannot update the channel availability section so people know who the hell carries this channel?! What a joke, these people remind me of the people who run Odyssey TV here in Canada, they don't know how to operate a proper website and can't be bothered to reply to any emails. This is a very BIG pet peeve of mine, what the hell is the point of having a website if you are not going to keep it updated?!? Anyone know, is SportPlus owned by the same people who own Greek Cinema?! I noticed their website addresses both start with 'the' and the design of the site looks similar so I wonder if its the same owners?!

How do you know Dish refuses to carry ANT1 in HD?! They currently carry several ethnics in HD and seeing as how Dish & Antenna have a good relationship (it was the first Greek channel to launch abroad and has been on Dish since its inception), I see no reason why they wouldn't carry it?! Also, IMO there is no reason in this day and age to continue to carry 2 feeds of the same channel, if by some miracle ANT1 Satellite launches in HD they could just replace the current feed with the HD feed. As for the TV licensing situation, I think the reason they are limiting the licenses to 4 is out of spite because Tspiras doesn't like the media or at least these oligarchs who control the main channels. I don't understand why he would limit the number though seeing as how this measure is going to generate revenue for the government, is it not?! The situation in Greece is so F'd Up that I don't think these changes (or any others) will ever materialize. From my understanding, the attitude of the people there (government and citizens) is such that everyone only cares about themselves and only wants whats best for them- how can you bring forth change in such an environment and more importantly how is such a society able to function?! Its ridiculous that these media oligarchs are able to get away without paying anything, but with so much corruption and constant changes in government, its no surprise that they have gotten a free ride for so long.

Wow, what is with the sudden launching of all these HD channels?! I thought these channels are all in dire straits financially, how do they have money to upgrade to high definition?! Its about damn time Antenna launched in HD, from what I have read they are in the best shape financially so what took them so long- are they THAT cheap that they don't want to spend money to upgrade their signal and systems?! (silly question I know but I had to ask :P) Does this mean that we will FINALLY see Antenna Satellite launch in HD, I am sick of watching that channel in stretch mode on my flat screen.

Antenna has posted a note on their FB page that they will be airing the Panathinaikos match today. It looks like they have acquired some rights but not sure if it is for specific teams or only certain matches?!

It appears as though SportPlus is connected to Nova in some way (the sports shows it airs are all from Nova Sports), if there is a connection then I would think that the smart money would be on SportPlus acquiring exclusive rights to the Super League which would also give the owners a stronger hand in negotiations to expand carriage of the channel. If they do acquire the rights to all games then they should look at converting the channel to HD, SD quality doesn't cut it for a sports channel in 2015. Here in Canada the channel is sold as an add-on to the Greek package on Bell Fibe for $10.- quite expensive for an SD channel IMO. Antenna should look at acquiring the Greek language rights to some National team games as well as Champions League/Europa League matches involving Greek teams. These matches would bring in as many viewers as the Super League does, perhaps more?!