ERR Sport

What is ERR Sport?

ERR Sport is the sport output of Eesti Rahvusringhääling (ERR), Estonia's public broadcaster, whose sport portal is sport.err.ee. ERR's page on the basis of its activity states: “Eesti Rahvusringhääling (edaspidi ERR) on Eesti Rahvusringhäälingu seadusega asutatud avalik-õiguslik juriidiline isik.” It continues: “Eesti Rahvusringhäälingu seaduse kohaselt on rahvusringhäälingu eesmärk kaasa aidata Eesti Vabariigi põhiseadusega sätestatud Eesti riigi ülesannete täitmisele.”^[1] Those are ERR's own statements about its statute. The text of the Act itself, on the state gazette Riigi Teataja, could not be retrieved, so no section of it is quoted here and its current edition could not be confirmed.

ERR's reports on its sport audiences name three television channels, ETV, ETV2 and ETV+, alongside its portals and its streaming service Jupiter.^[2][3]

What does ERR Sport cover?

Emor's report on television viewing in August 2026 lists ETV's sport news programme SPORT among the 20 most-watched programmes of the month, together with several ETV broadcasts from the European Athletics Championships in Birmingham (“KERGEJÕUSTIKU EM BIRMINGHAM”). The same report lists further Birmingham broadcasts on ETV2, and on ETV2 the basketball World Cup qualifier “KORVPALLI MM VALIKMÄNG: UNGARI-EESTI”.^[7]

Olympic Games. ERR reported on 16 January 2023: “Kolmepoolne kokkulepe ROK-i, EBU ja Discovery vahel sõlmiti aastateks 2026 kuni 2032 ja puudutab neljasid mänge: taliolümpia 2026 Milano Cortina, Itaalia; suveolümpia 2028 Los Angeles, USA; taliolümpia 2030; suveolümpia 2032 Brisbane, Austraalia.” ERR's head of sport, Rivo Saarna, was quoted in the same report saying that its three free-to-air channels, radio stations, portals and sport desk would give the Games “ulatuslikku ja reklaamivaba kajastust”.^[4]

Football World Cup. ERR reported after the final of the 2026 FIFA World Cup that ETV, ETV2 and ETV+ had carried 33 of the tournament's 104 matches, that the paid streaming platform Go3 had carried every match in Estonia, and that TV3 had carried a selection.^[3]

How large is ERR Sport's audience?

Estonia's television audience measurement is Emor's. Its report for August 2026 gives ETV 14.6 per cent of viewing time, ETV2 2.4 per cent and ETV+ 2.0 per cent, including seven-day catch-up viewing, among residents aged four and over. In the same month ETV's programme SPORT had 84,000 live viewers, a rating of 7.6 per cent.^[7] Those are one month's readings.

Milano Cortina 2026. ERR reported on 1 March 2026: “Eestis vaatas ETV, ETV2 või ETV+ vahendusel kahe ja poole nädala jooksul mõnda taliolümpia ülekannet 614 000 inimest, näitab Emori teleauditooriumi mõõdikuuring (otse- ja järelevaatamine vähemalt 15 minutit).” It added that nearly 200,000 viewers had followed the coverage on its digital channels, chiefly the sport portal and Jupiter.^[2]

FIFA World Cup 2026. ERR reported on 21 July 2026 that 565,000 people had watched the tournament on its television channels for at least 15 minutes, giving the source as Emor's television audience measurement, and that more than 250,000 users had watched matches through its portals and Jupiter. It reported that the final had averaged 134,000 viewers on ETV and 19,000 on ETV+.^[3] In the same report ERR's head of sport, Rivo Saarna, stated that the real viewing figures were higher than the measured audience surveys show.^[3] That is ERR's view of its own figures.

Since when has ERR Sport existed?

ERR's own chronology for 2007 records: “18. jaanuar - Riigikogu võtab vastu Presidendi poolt kinnitatud Rahvusringhäälingu seaduse.” It then records: “1. juuni - tegutsema hakkab Eesti Raadio ja Eesti Televisiooni ühendamisel tekkinud Eesti Rahvusringhääling.”^[5]

The same chronology records that on 1 October 2007 heads were appointed to ETV's content departments, among them a head of the television sport department.^[5]

Why does ERR Sport matter in Estonia's sport?

Under the agreement ERR reported in January 2023, its free-to-air channels carry the Olympic Games of 2026 to 2032, and it shared the 2026 World Cup with TV3 and Go3.^[4][3] Its reported reach for the two 2026 tournaments, 614,000 and 565,000 people at the 15-minute threshold, is set out above.^[2][3]

In the Eesti Spordiajakirjanike Selts's awards for 2025, announced in January 2026, ERR broadcasts were placed first and second for audiovisual coverage (audiovisuaalse pressi ülekanne), and an ERR entry was placed third for the best audio story.^[6]

Reporters Without Borders, in its 2026 index, ranks Estonia 3rd of 180 with a score of 88.54. It states: “Subject to consolidation over the last decade, the Estonian media market now features two major private groups (Postimees Group and Ekspress Group), public broadcaster ERR, local media, and a number of independent online outlets.” It also states: “Russian-speaking media, including a public TV channel, public and private radio stations, as well as independent websites cater to the Russian-speaking minority that makes up 25% of the population.”^[8] The Centre for Media Pluralism and Media Freedom's 2026 monitor states: “Estonian public service media and private media enjoy a high degree of political independence.”^[9] Those are the two bodies' characterisations.