On 11 June 2013, Minister for the Press and Mass Media and Government Spokesperson Simos Kedikoglou announced that by midnight of the same day, ERT would shut down and that its 2.656 employees would be laid-off.

[2][3][4] Despite the existence of a budget surplus thanks to the contribution fee, Kedikoglou described ERT as a "waste shelter" that cost more and had fewer viewers than private media.

Other assets and websites registered by ERT were in danger of being shut down (because the managers decided to cancel and change the contact address), in particular the official Facebook and Twitter pages.

The EBU was quick to criticise the closure of ERT, issuing a statement expressing "deep disappointment on behalf of the entire public media in Europe" and calling on Prime Minister Antonis Samaras to reverse the decision.

[14] On 12 June the Belgian channel "Télé Bruxelles" (now "BX1") broadcast the ERT logo with the word "Solidarité" meaning "solidarity" underneath.

In April 2018 the European Court of Human Rights accepted and examined the application of POSPERT, which, among other things, argued that "the total closure of a public service broadcaster amounts to a violation of freedom of expression, protected by Article 10 of the ECHR".

At dawn on Thursday 7 November 2013, riot police and in the presence of a prosecutor entered the Agia Paraskevi Radiomegaron, evacuated it and arrested four employees.

On 28 April 2015, the relevant bill was passed by a majority vote[26] which provided for the reopening of all ERT's television and radio stations and the Radiotelevision magazine, with a maximum planned staff of 2,500 employees.