According to TheGreekRadio.com, 39 shortwave antennas located at the Voice of Greece Avlis transmitter site may soon be sold as scrap metal. It seems this information is based on a statement by ERT employees from Monday (September 16, 2013):
“in the shortwave broadcasting center of Avlis, a representative of a company that sells metal showed up and started taking photos of the site. After we, ERT people, asked him, we got informed that he had been mandated by the Ministry of Finance to give an offer for the dismantling of 39 masts and purchasing the metal as scrap.”
[…]The name of [the] company and the registration plate of the car are available. The union body of ERT notes that this is an area of 1160 acres, featuring 39 metal masts, with a height between 30 and 70 meters each, that function as the shortwave aerials that transmit the “Voice of Greece”, the ERA-pénte, across the world.
“Greek shortwave started operating in 1938 and later was also used sent information to the Greek soldiers fighting Fascists in Albania. The only ones who dared to turn it off were the Nazis during the occupation. Since the liberation, it never stopped to link the country with Greek seafarers and the Diaspora. The Voice of Greece broadcasts information, entertainment, culture and tradition from Greece with programs in 12 languages, all over the globe”.
You can read the full article by clicking here. Many thanks to Andrea Borgnino for the tip.
I’ve predicted that the Voice of Greece may not be on the air even by the end of 2013. I certainly hope I’m wrong, but I simply can’t imagine there will be enough money in the reincarnated ERT budget to pay for the Voice of Greece Avlis shortwave transmitter site.
Follow the tag “ERT Cuts” for the latest developments.
Hi all, apoligies for dredging up an ancient thread… but I am getting Voice of Greece pretty well right now! 9420 kHz is coming in fine.
Mighty signal on 9420 kHz in the West of Ireland right now.
Thanks for still being there, Voice of Greece.
Some of you will certainly say that this is due to Angela Merkel’s austerity policy. Have you heard that the German service of “Deutsche Welle” (Voice of Germany) on short wave has been canceled, too? Already a year ago! For lack of money, and, of course, because everyone has internet nowadays. Well, in my motor caravan I haven’t, so I am without any news abroad, as are many German seafarers and Diaspora.
So please don’t demand Germans to finance Greek transmitters if they can’t even finance their own ones.
At this moment, 16:15UTC, 20/09/2013
VOG broadcasted in French.
No surprise here. I’m just surprised it took Greece so long. The Greek economy just can’t afford an international service. Also It’s not as if people turn to the VOG for news. There are already a number of other sources.