Tears As Greek State TV Returns To Air After Austerity Shutdown

Exactly two years after the state broadcaster was abruptly shut down by the previous government, ERT began broadcasting again in place of its successor NERIT.

Employees at Greece's state television ERT hugged each other and cried on Thursday 11th June 2015 as the channel aired its first broadcast in two years, after it was shut down under one of the previous government's most drastic austerity measures.

Leftist Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras, who is racing to reach a cash-for-reforms deal with the European Union and IMF, had called ERT's closure "a great wound" of his country's bailout. He made its reopening one of his priorities as part of efforts to roll back cuts demanded by the lenders.

Employees gathered on the set in the early hours of 11th June 2015 in tears as anchors prepared to present the first early-morning talk show. Ahead of the programme, the channel played out footage of some of Greece's most famous landmarks and scenery, as the national anthem blared out.

"It's a special day for all Greeks, for philhellenes, for those who love Greece and for those who love freedom of information," anchor Nikos Aggelidis said at the start of the show. "We're nervous. We're very touched."

Visibly moved, his co-presenter Vasiliki Haina added in a shaky voice: "It's a special day for us, a difficult day." The news ticker at the bottom of the screen read: "The return of ERT two years since the black."

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