Television broadcasting in Greece began in 1966 and this was preceded in 1951 by statute 1663 permitting television broadcasting.
Digital Terrestrial Television
In 2005, Alpha TV briefly ran experimental broadcasts in DVB-T locally in Athens, while in Heraklion, Crete, a regional network, Kriti TV, in conjunction with the University of Crete, also started digital operation.In January 2006, the State broadcaster ERT launched free-to-air Digital terrestrial television (DVB-T) with three "pilot" channels called Prisma+, Cine+ and Sport+, collectively branded as ERT Digital. The first channel, Prisma+, was targeted at disabled persons, while Cine+ broadcasts movies, and Sport+ broadcasts a sports program. A fourth channel, the Cypriot national channel's satellite program RIK sat, was also retransmitted on digital.
From September 2009 onwards, the seven major television stations in Greece broadcast in DVB-T MPEG-4, via a company set up by them, Digea. Because of the concentration of the population in a few cities, about 75% of the Greeks are now able to view DTT, although only a small proportion of the geographical area of Greece is covered. Areas covered (as at August 2011) include Attica, Thessalonica, Larissa, Alexandropolis, the Corinthian Gulf, and Rhodes Town.
East Attica (Mati, Nea Makri, Marathonas and Grammatiko) is not covered yet because the signal in this area is shadowed by mountains.
A set-top box or a digital-ready TV is required to view digital channels.
Most-viewed channels
Source: AGB Nielsen (16/06/2014 - 22/06/2014)
| Position | Channel | Group | Share of total viewing (%) | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Mega | Teletypos S.A. | 20,8% | |||
| 2 | ANT1 | ANT1 Group | 18,1% | |||
| 3 | Alpha | Alpha Satellite Television S.A. (DEMCO) | 13,5% | |||
| 4 | NERIT Sports | New Hellenic radio internet television | 10,5% | |||
| 5 | Star | Nea Tileorasi S.A. | 10,0% | |||
| 6 | NERIT1 | New Hellenic radio internet television | 8,4% | |||
| 7 | Skai | Skai Group & News Dot Com | 6,9% | |||
| 8 | E Channel | Radiotelevision PLC (Extra TV) | 2,5% | |||
| 9 | Makedonia TV | Makedonia TV S.A. (ANT1 Group) | 0,6% |