The pandemic means that events will be more modest than they otherwise might have been.

"The current period limits organizing gatherings, so unfortunately it's not possible to meet up with the old team. Instead, we'll try to bring the behind the scenes to the viewers through this show," head of TV news at ERR Liisu Lass says.

The show will give an overview of what the present AK team's workday looks like, in the process taking viewers across the Atlantic to see how U.S. correspondent Maria-Ann Rohemäe is faring in Washington.

"Live broadcasts from overseas, which used to be very expensive, are now more easily accessible, which definitely enables us to make the show much better than before," Lass went on.

Some former AK alumni will also feature in Thursday's special edition, Lass said.

While group tours, press days and other in-person events were quite a common occurence on the news floor and in the AK studio - which is separate from the TV house and located in the nearby news house - in pre-pandemic days, these have ground to a halt for the time being.

A virutal reality tour is, however, available at the ERR museum, and will soon be available in stores, ERR reports.

"AK 65" can be seen both inside and outside Estonia today, Thursday, at 8 p.m. Estonian time here.

AK was first broadcast on March 11 1956, while Estonia was under Soviet occupation, going daily from 1958. Its title in fact derived from flagship East German news show "Aktuelle Kamera", which ceased broadcasting in December 1990. Estonian AK continued broadcasting through the break-up of the Soviet Union and the restoration of Estonian independence, declared in August 1991 (link in Estonian).

Estonian Public Broadcasting (Eesti Rahvusringhääling, abbreviated to ERR) was formed via national legislation in 2007 and merged the formerly separate TV and radio functions. ERR News in English marked its 10th anniversary last August.

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