It was founded in 1926 as "Radio Broadcasting" (, RRH), in the same year it launched a radio station of the same name on medium waves and in 1934 it was reorganized into the State Radio Broadcasting (, RRH). In 1940, the
Radio Committee of the Council of People's Commissars of the ESSR (Radio Committee of the ESSR) renamed the radio channel into ER, becoming the republican time slot within the
All Union First Programme, the retransmission of which began through the
Riga radio transmitter. In 1941, the ER radio transmitter was confiscated by the
German occupation radio station, launching the radio station through it. In 1944, the radio transmitter was returned to the Radio Committee of the
Estonian SSR, and the retransmission of the
Comintern radio station in Estonia resumed. In 1953, the Radio Committee of the ESSR was reorganized into the Main Directorate of the Ministry of Culture of the ESSR (Radio Administration of the ESSR). In 1957, the ESSR Radio Administration was reorganized into the ESSR State Committee for Television and Radio Broadcasting (
Eesti NSV Ministrite Nõukogu Riiklik Televisiooni ja Raadio Komitee, or simply ESSR State Radio and Television). On 3 April 1967, the ESSR
Gosteleradio launched the later named
Vikerraadio ("rainbow"). In 1990, the ESSR State Radio and Television was divided into
Eesti Televisioon (Estonian Television, ETV) and Estonian Radio. On 1 January 1993, ER was admitted as a full active member of the
European Broadcasting Union (EBU). From the restoration of independence in 1991 to 31 December 1992, it was a member of the
International Radio and Television Organisation (OIRT). On 1 May 1993, the radio station "Estonian Radio" was renamed to ER2, whilst
Vikerraadio was renamed ER1 and the radio stations ER3 and ER4 were launched. At the start of April 1995, ER3 was renamed
Klassikaraadio, ER4 to
Raadio 4, ER2 to
Raadio 2, and ER1 revived its old name Vikerraadio. Raadio 4, which broadcasts mostly in Russian, was opened in
Narva in 1996. The activities of Eesti Raadio as an independent broadcaster were terminated on 31 May 2007. On 1 June 2007, following a law passed by the
Riigikogu on 18 January 2007, Eesti Raadio merged with
Eesti Televisioon (ETV) to create
Eesti Rahvusringhääling (ERR). The merger of ER and ETV had been discussed since the early 2000s. ==Stations==