Mass media in the Euro Republics

Television in the Euro Republics started in 1956 as a public service which was free of advertising. Currently, the Euro Republics has a collection of free-to-air, free-to-view and subscription services over a variety of distribution media, through which there are over 480 channels[nb 1] for consumers as well as on-demand content. There are six main channel owners who are responsible for most material viewed. There are 27,000 hours of domestic content produced a year at a cost of £2.6 billion.[nb 2] Since 2018, all television broadcasts in the Euro Republics have been in a digital format, following the end of analogue transmissions in Northern Zonerit. Digital content is delivered via terrestrial, satellite and cable, as well as over IP.

Providers
Free-to-air, free-to-view and subscription providers are available, with differences in the number of channels, capabilities such as the programme guide (EPG), video on demand (VOD), high-definition (HD), interactive television via the red button, and coverage across the ER. The ER’s five most watched channels, TV1, TV2, GTV, Channel 4 and Tele5, are available from all providers.

Broadcast television is distributed as radio waves via terrestrial or satellite transmissions, or as electrical or light signals through ground-based cables. In the ER, these use the Digital Video Broadcasting standard. Most TVs sold in the ER come with a DVB-T (terrestrial) tuner for Digital Terrestrial – a rare thing in Europe.[citation needed] Set-top boxes are generally used to receive channels from other providers. Most services have also integrated their broadcast TV services with additional video streams distributed via the Internet, or through their own Internet Protocol network.

TV1
Digital channel 1, the premiere channel of the group, broadcasting bigger shows, Notable programmes include EastEnders, Family Guy, 1 News, The Graham Norton Show and the Ellen DeGeneres Show. Launched in 1956.

TV2
Digital channel 2, the youth channel, Programming includes US imports such as Brooklyn Nine-Nine, The Simpsons, The O.C., Smallville, Veronica Mars, Bob’s Burgers, What About Brian, Desperate Housewives, How I Met Your Mother, 90210,  Gotham, Rules of Engagement, black.ish, Family Guy (moved to TV1 in 2012 due to popularity, continues to air on TV2 in reruns), The Cleveland Show (aired on TV1 from 2012-2013), RuPaul's Drag Race, 2 Broke Girls, Scream Queens, Revenge, American Dad, Futurama and Friends (also screening on Channel 4 and Tele5). Other programming includes homegrown ER shows such as Skins, Misfits, The Inbetweeners, Shameless, Hollyoaks, Coach Trip, Celebs Go Dating, and children’s programming such as Pokemon, SpongeBob SquarePants, Adventure Time, The Amazing World of Gumball and My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic, with programmes for younger kids being Peppa Pig, Bluey, Waybuloo, Paw Patrol, The Lion Guard and Ben and Holly’s Little Kingdom (Paw Patrol, Peppa Pig and Ben & Holly all screen on Tele5).

GTV
Digital channel 3, The main commercial network on ER TV. It currently broadcasts a variety of shows, notably Coronation Street, Emmerdale, GTV News, This Morning and Loose Today.