Greece's state-run broadcaster ERT went off the air on Tuesday as the government closed down the facility as part of its austerity measures, media reports said.
An official spokesman said the government decided to shut down ERT that runs three TV channels because of its wasteful operations.
In a televised statement, he said such public waste must not be tolerated as Greece needed to reduce fiscal deficits to end its financial crisis. The government will make an enactment to set up a new, leaner broadcaster to replace ERT, he added.
Greece's only public broadcaster, ERT employs about 2,500 people, who are to lose their jobs at least for sometime. The employees gathered in front of the broadcaster's head office in capital Athens to protest the closure.
European Union officials in charge of the Greek bailout have been in Athens since Monday to assess the country's austerity programs and discuss its fiscal reconstruction.
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