Television in Norway was
introduced in 1954, but the first television program was only shown in 1958, and regular broadcasts did not start until 1960. Like
Denmark
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, song_type = National and royal anthem
, image_map = EU-Denmark.svg
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, subdivision_type = Sovereign state
, subdivision_name = Kingdom of Denmark
, establish ...
,
Norway
Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe, the mainland territory of which comprises the western and northernmost portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and the ...
had only one
television
Television, sometimes shortened to TV, is a telecommunication medium for transmitting moving images and sound. The term can refer to a television set, or the medium of television transmission. Television is a mass medium for advertisin ...
channel until the 1980s. Some 40% of the population have
cable TV, and 30% have
satellite TV
Satellite television is a service that delivers television programming to viewers by relaying it from a communications satellite orbiting the Earth directly to the viewer's location. The signals are received via an outdoor parabolic antenna commo ...
. Another 30% have
terrestrial television
Terrestrial television or over-the-air television (OTA) is a type of television broadcasting in which the signal transmission occurs via radio waves from the terrestrial (Earth-based) transmitter of a TV station to a TV receiver having an ante ...
only.
In Norway, all advertising containing political messages and advertising aimed at children are prohibited. Channels such as
TV3 are allowed to broadcast commercial breaks, as these channels are being broadcast via satellite from the United Kingdom.
Non-Norwegian television programs (as well as portions of Norwegian shows with foreign language dialogue), except for children's programs, are subtitled, not dubbed.
Analogue terrestrial television
The first television channel in Norway,
NRK1 was started officially in 1960 (then under the name NRK). NRK had made television programs since 1953. A second television channel,
TV 2 was started in 1992. NRK started a second television channel,
NRK2 in 1996.
NRK1 goes out to 99,8% of all households, while TV2 has a 92% coverage and NRK2 and
NRK3
NRK3 (NRK Tre) is a digital TV channel aimed at youth and young adults and produced by the Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation.
History
Launched on 3 September 2007, and on air from 19:30 each evening, the channel features such British and Americ ...
/
NRK Super
NRK Super is a Norwegian TV & radio channel aimed at children, run by the Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation. The TV channel is broadcast on the digital terrestrial network, on the same frequency as NRK3 from 7am to 7pm, and was launched 1 Decem ...
has 80% coverage. There are today 24 local television channels in the country, all terrestrially transmitted. The first local channel,
TVBudstikka was started in 1986. Many of them cooperate with TVNorge, so that
TVNorge use their transmitters when they are not broadcasting any programs.
Digital terrestrial television
The introduction of
DVB-T is regulated by the
Ministry of Culture and Church Affairs. Analogue TV broadcasting was completely closed on 1 December 2009. Norway uses the DVB
H.264
Advanced Video Coding (AVC), also referred to as H.264 or MPEG-4 Part 10, is a video compression standard based on block-oriented, motion-compensated coding. It is by far the most commonly used format for the recording, compression, and distr ...
/
MPEG-4 AVC coding standards.
In June 2002, a 12-year nationwide licence, including the roll-out of infrastructure, was publicly announced, met only by the application of
Norges Televisjon (NTV), a joint venture between the state-owned broadcaster
NRK, the leading private broadcaster
TV 2, and the largest Norwegian telecommunications company
Telenor. In February 2004, the Norwegian parliament passed the final regulations on digital broadcasting to the Ministry of Culture and Church Affairs, leaving the Ministry to create a licence agreement for NTV. The Ministry showed their proposal for a licence in December 2004.
NTV was faced with more complicated regulations than they expected (such as the licence running already from roll-out of infrastructure). Therefore, in February 2005, NTV applied for extending their licence period from 12 years to 15 years, and consequently the Ministry publicly announced the licence once again, announcement period expiring 2 May 2005. If licence is granted NTV during 2005, the company says it plans to roll out infrastructure during 2006–2009, offering the Norwegian public between 15 and 18 TV stations; of them NRK1, NRK2, TV2, TV2 Zebra and a local channel.
The EFTA competition authorities, ESA, has protested on the application process, saying the ministry is not in position to grant the DVB-T licence to a state-owned company like NTV, but ministry says this protest will not affect their decision.
Digital terrestrial television is now available in all counties of Norway. Analogue TV broadcasting was switched off in
Rogaland (4 March 2008),
Østfold
Østfold is a traditional region, a former county and a current electoral district in southeastern Norway. It borders Akershus and southwestern Sweden (Västra Götaland County and Värmland), while Buskerud and Vestfold are on the other side ...
(29 April 2008),
Oslo
Oslo ( , , or ; sma, Oslove) is the capital and most populous city of Norway. It constitutes both a county and a municipality. The municipality of Oslo had a population of in 2022, while the city's greater urban area had a population ...
and
Akershus (20 May 2008),
Buskerud
Buskerud () is a former county and a current electoral district in Norway, bordering Akershus, Oslo, Oppland, Sogn og Fjordane, Hordaland, Telemark and Vestfold. The region extends from the Oslofjord and Drammensfjorden in the southeast to Ha ...
,
Vestfold
Vestfold is a traditional region, a former county and a current electoral district in Eastern Norway. In 2020 the county became part of the much larger county of Vestfold og Telemark. Located on the western shore of the Oslofjord, it bordered t ...
and
Telemark
Telemark is a traditional region, a former county, and a current electoral district in southern Norway. In 2020, Telemark merged with the former county of Vestfold to form the county of Vestfold og Telemark. Telemark borders the traditional ...
(2 September 2008),
Hordaland
Hordaland () was a county in Norway, bordering Sogn og Fjordane, Buskerud, Telemark, and Rogaland counties. Hordaland was the third largest county, after Akershus and Oslo, by population. The county government was the Hordaland County Munici ...
(30 September 2008) and
Møre og Romsdal (28 October 2008).
Cable and satellite television
When the television and radio monopoly of NRK was lifted in 1982, cable television networks that carried foreign TV channels started to appear in the larger cities around the country. When satellite television was allowed in 1986 it paved the way for several new Norwegian channels. The first of these
TVNorge began broadcasting in 1988 and was soon followed by
TV3 in 1989.
National Community TV channel
In January 2009 the Minister of Culture inaugurated Frikanalen, a national community channel which broadcasts from Oslo on the national DTT-network established in 2008, which reaches 98% of Norwegian households. Frikanalen is a non-profit open channel for NGOs, and today has 57 member organisations. The channel is open to everyone. Editorial responsibility lies with the producers. All programs are archived on internet and can be seen there. The goal of Frikanalen is to strengthen freedom of expression and participative democracy by giving people more opportunity to express themselves through television.
Viewing shares
The following table shows the shares of total viewing for a few selected Norwegian channels.
See also
*
List of television stations in Norway
This is a list of television stations in Norway.
Terrestrial channels
These channels are available as via Cable television, cable and Satellite television, satellite systems. The Norwegian analogue terrestrial net is closed and replaced with a ...
References
External links
{{Television in Norway