This summer President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi set a two-year deadline to complete the modernisation project for the Egyptian Radio and Television Union (ERTU).
The project will focus primarily on technical infrastructure (specifically studios and production methods) particularly at the Maspero building, the headquarters of the National Media Authority. The aim is to adapt to the new broadcasting models pioneered by digital platforms.
The national plan will also preserve Egypt’s existing audiovisual heritage by cataloguing, indexing and digitising all programmes broadcast since the ERTU’s creation, a collection of nearly one million tapes, representing over 800,000 hours of television and radio programmes. According to Ahmed El-Moslemany, head of the National Media Authority, the ERTU archives constitute the largest documentary collection in the Arab world.
This major undertaking involves restoring reels of film, often damaged by the passage of time, and subsequently digitising them to very high quality. Cutting-edge technology, including artificial intelligence, will be employed throughout the process with the help of international partners.
Founded in 1970 through the merger of Egypt’s public television and radio services, the ERTU is the country’s public broadcaster and one of the oldest and most influential in the Middle East.
Sources: Broadcast Pro, PO4OR
