ER in the Euro Republics

In the Euro Republics, the American medical drama series  aired from 1995 to 1998 on Channel 4, and from 1998 to 2010 on TV3.

Channel 4
When ER was first broadcast in the Euro Republics, it was broadcast at 9pm on Tuesday evenings from 31 October 1995 - Channel 4's first night on air, and concluding on 30th April 1996. During the first series, the programme was in direct competition with rival medical drama series Chicago Hope on Network Two, with ER getting higher ratings.

For the second series which debuted on 4th June 1996, ER was moved to 10pm and broadcast on both Tuesday and Thursday evenings. Upon it's move, Channel 4 initiated a major advertising campaign for the series, inviting viewers of Chicago Hope to watch ER instead. It ran twice weekly primarily to allow the entire series to be shown in just eleven weeks to catch up with the US, finishing on 21st August 1996.

Series 3 began on Channel 4 on 24th October 1996, and with the Euro Republics now only a month behind the US, the broadcast was reduced to once a week, on Thursdays at 10pm, matching the US broadcast slot. Series 4 debuted on Channel 4 on 8th January 1998, in the same slot, ending on 11th June 1998.

TV3
It was announced in the summer of 1998 that from the fifth series onwards, ER would be promoted from Channel 4 to it's parent channel, TV3. This was as a result of high ratings. It replaced 60 Minutes, which had been underperforming in the Thursday 10pm slot and was moved to 8pm to make way for ER, which kept the same slot as Channel 4. It was part of a wider revamp to TV3's schedule, which also included the movement of Frasier and Friends over to the channel to create a 9pm to 11pm strand similar to NBC's Must See TV.

Throughout it's history on TV3, ER was almost always shown on Thursday nights at 10pm. After the endings of Friends and Frasier in 2004, TV3 discussed plans to move ER to 9pm, but these did not occur.

TV3 rested ER over the Autumn season in 2005, but returned on 5th January 2006, now with rival US medical drama Grey's Anatomy preceding it at 9pm, which returned for it's second season after an initial run on Monday nights, and which came to supersede ER as the main medical drama on the channel. TV3 also ran select episodes of House at 8pm, meaning some nights would be fully devoted to medical dramas, although Life on Mars occupied the 8pm Thursday slot from February 2006.

TV3 also began to fall out of favour with ER throughout 2006 and 2009, with new seasons now beginning in January as opposed to October as they had been previously. The regular two-parters of Grey's Anatomy would often see that show run through until 11pm, and which would see ER go on weekly hiatuses.

TV4
In 2007, it was announced that ER would move from TV3 to the new channel TV4, which was replacing ZTV, from January 2008. The Grey's Anatomy spin-off Private Practice took it's old slot on TV3, whilst ER would be broadcast on TV4 in the same Thursday 10pm slot, in direct competition.

The launch of Complications on TV4 in January 2009 saw the 15th season of ER indefinitely delayed from the January slot to prevent a schedule clash, and TV4 instead chose to run the US version of Life on Mars in the 10pm Thursday slot, followed from Thursday 14th May by the second series of Moving Wallpaper.

Season 15 of ER made it's debut on TV4 on 22nd October, 2009. ER went on a Christmas break for 17th, 24th and 31st December 2009, returning on 14th January 2010.

The end of ER in 2009 saw a renewed interest in the show from TV4, and the final episode was broadcast on 1st April 2010 (the eve of the 1st anniversary since the show ended in the US) in a special two hour slot in a simulcast with both TV3 & TV4.