Television

Television

Television is a telecommunication medium for transmitting and receiving moving images that can be monochrome or colored, with accompanying sound...

 in Norway

Norway

Norway , officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic unitary constitutional monarchy whose territory comprises the western portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula, Jan Mayen, and the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard and Bouvet Island. Norway has a total area of and a population of about 4.9 million...

was introduced in 1954

Timeline of the introduction of television in countries

This is a list of when the first publicly announced television broadcasts occurred in the mentioned countries. Non-public field tests and closed circuit demonstrations are not included....

. Nowadays, 40% of the population have cable TV, and 30% have satellite TV. Another 30% have terrestrial television only.

Analogue terrestrial television

The first television channel in Norway, NRK was started officially in 1960, but had regular programs since 1954. A second television channel, TV2

TV 2 (Norway)

TV 2 is the largest commercial television station in Norway. Over 30% of the time Norwegians spend watching TV is spent watching TV 2. The station has 65% of the market for TV commercials in Norway....

 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/NRK Super has 80% coverage. There are today 24 local television channels in the country, all terrestrially transmitted. The first channel, TVBudstikka was started in 1986. Many of them cooperate with TVNorge, so that TVNorge

TVNorge

TVNorge is a Norwegian television channel.TVNorge went on the air December 5, 1988 and was the first advertising-supported Norwegian channel. The channel was started with 50 000 NOK...

 use their transmitters when they are not broadcasting any programs.

Channel	Description	Financed by	Owned by	Launched	Terrestrial coverage
NRK1 NRK1 NRK1 is the Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation's main television channel. Test broadcasts started on 12 January 1954, regular test broadcasts started on 13 April 1958 and regular broadcasts started in 20 August 1960. It is Norway's oldest and largest television channel...	Public Broadcaster	Licence	Norsk Rikskringkasting Norsk Rikskringkasting The Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation , which is usually known as NRK, is the Norwegian government-owned radio and television public broadcasting company, and the largest media organisation in Norway...	1960	99,8%
NRK2 NRK2 NRK2 is one of the TV channels of the Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation . It was launched in 1996. It has traditionally concentrated on more on cultural and in-depth programmes than its mother channel NRK1 and has also shown drama series, comedies, and news. When not broadcasting regular...	Public Broadcaster	Licence	Norsk Rikskringkasting Norsk Rikskringkasting The Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation , which is usually known as NRK, is the Norwegian government-owned radio and television public broadcasting company, and the largest media organisation in Norway...	1996	80%
NRK Super 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 December 2007. The NRK Super radio channel is broadcast on...  and NRK3 NRK3 NRK3 is a digital TV channel aimed at youth and young adults and produced by the Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation.Launched on 3 September 2007, and on air from 19.30 each evening, the channel features such British and American shows as Sugar Rush, Heroes, Third Watch, The Daily Show, True Blood,...	Public Broadcaster	Licence	Norsk Rikskringkasting Norsk Rikskringkasting The Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation , which is usually known as NRK, is the Norwegian government-owned radio and television public broadcasting company, and the largest media organisation in Norway...	2007	80%
TV 2 TV 2 (Norway) TV 2 is the largest commercial television station in Norway. Over 30% of the time Norwegians spend watching TV is spent watching TV 2. The station has 65% of the market for TV commercials in Norway....	General Entertainment Channel	Commercials	Egmont Holding AS and A-Pressen ASA	1992	92%
TVNorge TVNorge TVNorge is a Norwegian television channel.TVNorge went on the air December 5, 1988 and was the first advertising-supported Norwegian channel. The channel was started with 50 000 NOK...	General Entertainment Channel	Commercials	ProSiebenSat.1 Media ProSiebenSat.1 Media ProSiebenSat.1 Media AG is a European media conglomerate, operating commercial television, premium pay channels, radio stations and related print businesses. It was formed on October 2, 2000 by merger of German TV broadcasters ProSieben Media AG and Sat.1 SatellitenFernsehen GmbH...  AG	1988	Sharing frequences with many local-tv stations.

Digital terrestrial television

The introduction of DVB-T

DVB-T

DVB-T is an abbreviation for Digital Video Broadcasting — Terrestrial; it is the DVB European-based consortium standard for the broadcast transmission of digital terrestrial television that was first published in 1997 and first broadcast in the UK in 1998...

 is regulated by the Ministry of Culture and Church Affairs

Minister of Culture and Church Affairs (Norway)

The Norwegian Minister of Culture and Church Affairs is the head of the Royal Norwegian Ministry of Culture and Church Affairs.-Minister of Culture and Science:-Minister of Culture and Church Affairs:-Minister of Culture:...

. Analogue TV broadcasting was completely closed on 1 December 2009. Norway uses the DVB H.264/MPEG-4

MPEG-4

MPEG-4 is a method of defining compression of audio and visual digital data. It was introduced in late 1998 and designated a standard for a group of audio and video coding formats and related technology agreed upon by the ISO/IEC Moving Picture Experts Group under the formal standard ISO/IEC...

 AVC

H.264/MPEG-4 AVC

H.264/MPEG-4 Part 10 or AVC is a standard for video compression, and is currently one of the most commonly used formats for the recording, compression, and distribution of high definition video...

 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

Norges televisjon

Norges Televisjon AS, or NTV, is the company that holds the concession to operate the digital terrestrial television network in Norway. The infrastructure is owned by the Telenor-subsidiary Norkring, while the content is provided by the Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation and RiksTV. The company...

 (NTV), a joint venture between the state-owned broadcaster NRK, the leading private broadcaster TV 2

TV 2 (Norway)

TV 2 is the largest commercial television station in Norway. Over 30% of the time Norwegians spend watching TV is spent watching TV 2. The station has 65% of the market for TV commercials in Norway....

, and the largest Norwegian telecommunications company Telenor

Telenor

Telenor Group is the incumbent telecommunications company in Norway, with headquarters located at Fornebu, close to Oslo. Today, Telenor Group is mostly an international wireless carrier with operations in Scandinavia, Eastern Europe and Asia, working predominantly under the Telenor brand...

. 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 yrs to 15 yrs, 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

Rogaland

is a county in Western Norway, bordering Hordaland, Telemark, Aust-Agder and Vest-Agder. It is the center of the Norwegian petroleum industry, and as a result of this, Rogaland has the lowest unemployment rate of any county in Norway, 1.1%...

 (4 March 2008), Østfold

Østfold

is a county in southeastern Norway, bordering Akershus and southwestern Sweden , while Buskerud and Vestfold is on the other side of the bay. The seat of the county administration is Sarpsborg, and Fredrikstad is the largest city.Many manufacturing facilities are situated here. Moss and...

 (29 April 2008), Oslo

Oslo

Oslo is a municipality, as well as the capital and most populous city in Norway. As a municipality , it was established on 1 January 1838. Founded around 1048 by King Harald III of Norway, the city was largely destroyed by fire in 1624. The city was moved under the reign of Denmark–Norway's King...

 and Akershus

Akershus

- Geography :The county is conventionally divided into the traditional districts Follo and Romerike, which fill the vast part of the county, as well as the small exclave west of Oslo that consists of Asker and Bærum...

 (20 May 2008), Buskerud

Buskerud

is a county in Norway, bordering Akershus, Oslo, Oppland, Sogn og Fjordane, Hordaland, Telemark, and Vestfold. The county administration is located in Drammen.-Geography:...

, Vestfold

Vestfold

is a county in Norway, bordering Buskerud and Telemark. The county administration is in Tønsberg.Vestfold is located west of the Oslofjord, as the name indicates. It includes many smaller, but well-known towns in Norway, such as Larvik, Sandefjord, Tønsberg and Horten. The river Numedalslågen runs...

 and Telemark

Telemark

is a county in Norway, bordering Vestfold, Buskerud, Hordaland, Rogaland and Aust-Agder. The county administration is in Skien. Until 1919 the county was known as Bratsberg amt.-Location:...

 (2 September 2008), Hordaland

Hordaland

is a county in Norway, bordering Sogn og Fjordane, Buskerud, Telemark and Rogaland. Hordaland is the third largest county after Akershus and Oslo by population. The county administration is located in Bergen...

 (30 September 2008) and Møre og Romsdal

Møre og Romsdal

is a county in the northernmost part of Western Norway. It borders the counties of Sør-Trøndelag, Oppland and Sogn og Fjordane. The county administration is located in Molde, while Ålesund is the largest city.-The name:...

 (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

TVNorge

TVNorge is a Norwegian television channel.TVNorge went on the air December 5, 1988 and was the first advertising-supported Norwegian channel. The channel was started with 50 000 NOK...

 began broadcasting in 1988 and was soon followed by TV3

TV3 (Norway)

TV3 Norway is a commercial television channel targeting Norway owned by Viasat, which is a part of the Swedish media group Modern Times Group...

 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.

	92	93	94	95	96	97	98	99	00	01	02	03	04	05	06	07	08	09	10
NRK1 NRK1 NRK1 is the Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation's main television channel. Test broadcasts started on 12 January 1954, regular test broadcasts started on 13 April 1958 and regular broadcasts started in 20 August 1960. It is Norway's oldest and largest television channel...	64	55	51	45	43	41	41	36	37.7	38.1	39.2	40.2	40.7	40.1	39.9	37.6	32.4	31.9	32.5
NRK2 NRK2 NRK2 is one of the TV channels of the Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation . It was launched in 1996. It has traditionally concentrated on more on cultural and in-depth programmes than its mother channel NRK1 and has also shown drama series, comedies, and news. When not broadcasting regular...					3	2	3	3	3	3	3	4	4	4	3.6	3.4	3.4	4.1	4.6
NRK3 NRK3 NRK3 is a digital TV channel aimed at youth and young adults and produced by the Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation.Launched on 3 September 2007, and on air from 19.30 each evening, the channel features such British and American shows as Sugar Rush, Heroes, Third Watch, The Daily Show, True Blood,...																	1.9	3.0	3.8
TV 2 TV 2 (Norway) TV 2 is the largest commercial television station in Norway. Over 30% of the time Norwegians spend watching TV is spent watching TV 2. The station has 65% of the market for TV commercials in Norway....	6	19	24	30	32	31	30	31	31.7	31.4	32.2	29.5	30.0	29.4	30.1	28.9	25.3	22.1	20.5
TV 2 Zebra																	3.0	3.2	3
TVNorge TVNorge TVNorge is a Norwegian television channel.TVNorge went on the air December 5, 1988 and was the first advertising-supported Norwegian channel. The channel was started with 50 000 NOK...	8	8	8	8	7	8	9	9	9.5	10.1	9.6	10.3	9.5	11.0	9.9	9.4	8.4	7.5	7.3
FEM FEM (TV channel) Fem is a Norwegian television channel targeting young women...																	1.5	2.0	2.4
TV3 TV3 (Norway) TV3 Norway is a commercial television channel targeting Norway owned by Viasat, which is a part of the Swedish media group Modern Times Group...	6	6	6	6	6	6	7	8	7.8	6.7	6.0	6.4	6.4	6.1	6.0	5.4	6.3	6.5	6.2
Viasat4																	2.4	3.6	3.7
Discovery Channel																	1.9	1.8	1.6
MTV Norway																	0.3	0.3	0.3
National Geographic Channel																	0.9	0.8	0.9