Television in Sweden
Encyclopedia
Television in Sweden began in Sweden
Sweden
Sweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden borders with Norway and Finland and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund....

 in the early 1950s with the first test transmissions, prior to the opening of the first station, Radiotjänst
Radiotjänst
Radiotjänst can refer to several entities:* Sveriges Radiotjänst, the name of Sweden's national public broadcaster from 1925 until 1958, when the company was reorganized as Sveriges Radio...

, two years later. A second channel was launched in 1969. Commercial television arrived in the 1980s through cable television and in 1992, the country's first terrestrial commercial channel was launched.

The shutdown of the analogue service in Sweden started on September 19, 2005, and was finished on October 29, 2007.

Typically, non Swedish content is subtitled, but maintains the original language soundtrack. Non Swedish programming intended for children is, however, usually dubbed into Swedish. Regardless of intended audience, some shows receive a Swedish title, which is used in programme schedules.

Many of the channels targeting Sweden are not actually broadcasting from Sweden, but from other countries (mostly from the United Kingdom). This is done to avoid the Swedish Broadcasting Law which restricts advertising heavily.

History

The first trial television broadcasts in Sweden were launched on October 29, 1954, from the Royal Institute of Technology
Royal Institute of Technology
The Royal Institute of Technology is a university in Stockholm, Sweden. KTH was founded in 1827 as Sweden's first polytechnic and is one of Scandinavia's largest institutions of higher education in technology. KTH accounts for one-third of Sweden’s technical research and engineering education...

 in Stockholm. Prior to this, some Swedes could watch television originating in other countries, notably Denmark, where thrice-weekly television broadcasts by the public service broadcaster, Statsradiofonien (now Danmarks Radio
Danmarks Radio
DR – officially rendered into English as the Danish Broadcasting Corporation – is Denmark's national broadcasting corporation. Founded in 1925 as a public-service organization, it is today Denmark's oldest and largest electronic media enterprise...

) had begun in 1951.

The official launch of television in Sweden took place on September 4, 1956 when the Radiotjänst Television
SVT1
SVT1 is the primary television station of the Swedish public service broadcaster Sveriges Television in Sweden.-History:The channel began broadcasting in 1956 and was known as Radiotjänst TV, A year later, it was renamed Sveriges Radio TV. In 1969, the second television station TV2 was launched and...

 service was launched on the high power Nacka transmitter. The service was funded by a license fee with no advertising and was operated by Radiotjänst, which was also in charge of the nation's two radio networks. Daily broadcasts started in 1957 and Radiotjänst was renamed as Sveriges Radio
Sveriges Radio
Sveriges Radio AB – Swedish Radio Ltd – is Sweden's national publicly funded radio broadcaster. The Swedish public-broadcasting system is in many respects modelled after the one used in the United Kingdom, and Sveriges Radio - like Sveriges Television - shares many characteristics with...

. The first television news programme in Sweden, Aktuellt
Aktuellt
Aktuellt is a once-daily news programme produced by Sveriges Television and broadcast on its second channel, SVT2 in Sweden....

, was broadcast on 2 September 1958 and continues to this day on SVT2
SVT2
SVT2, until 1996 TV2, is one of two television channels broadcast by Sveriges Television in Sweden. It was started by Sveriges Radio in 1969. SVT2 is generally more specialist, compared to SVT1.-History:...

.

A second channel was discussed throughout the 1960s. It was eventually decided that a second channel would launch and that it would have the same business model as the first channel. TV2
SVT2
SVT2, until 1996 TV2, is one of two television channels broadcast by Sveriges Television in Sweden. It was started by Sveriges Radio in 1969. SVT2 is generally more specialist, compared to SVT1.-History:...

, as the new channel was called, launched on 5 December 1969 and the first channel was subsequently renamed TV1
SVT1
SVT1 is the primary television station of the Swedish public service broadcaster Sveriges Television in Sweden.-History:The channel began broadcasting in 1956 and was known as Radiotjänst TV, A year later, it was renamed Sveriges Radio TV. In 1969, the second television station TV2 was launched and...

. Both channels were operated by Sverige Radio and funded by licence fees.

Colour broadcasts had started in the 1960s, but launched officially in April 1970. Trial broadcasts for regional television began in 1970 with regional news programmes in Scania
Scania
Scania is the southernmost of the 25 traditional non-administrative provinces of Sweden, constituting a peninsula on the southern tip of the Scandinavian peninsula, and some adjacent islands. The modern administrative subdivision Skåne County is almost, but not totally, congruent with the...

. Further regional news services were introduced with the Stockholm capital region the last to receive its own such service in 1987. Sveriges Radio was reorganised and split into several new companies in 1979, one of which, Sveriges Television
Sveriges Television
Sveriges Television AB , Sweden's Television, is a national television broadcaster based in Sweden, funded by a compulsory fee to be paid by all television owners...

, now held total responsibility for television broadcasting.

Cable television started becoming common in the 1980s. At this time, the cable companies also started relaying international satellite channels. The first Swedish-language satellite channel was TV3
TV3 (Sweden)
TV3 is a television channel targeted at a Swedish language audience owned by Viasat . It was founded on 31 December 1987 by entrepreneur Jan Stenbeck as joint Scandinavian channel, but Denmark and Norway soon got their own versions of TV3...

 which started in December 1987. Two other early satellite channels were Nordic Channel
Kanal 5 (Sweden)
Kanal 5 is a Swedish commercial television channel established in 1989. It is owned by the media corporation ProSiebenSat.1 Media.After a troublesome 1990s, Kanal 5 launched new strategies in the early 2000s that established it as a popular entertainment channel targeting young people...

 (later known as Kanal 5), which started in 1989 and TV4, which was launched in 1990. The arrival of commercial satellite channels fueled a debate on allowing advertising on terrestrial services. Eventually, it was decided that a commercial channel would be allowed to broadcast terrestrially. TV4 won the rights to broadcast terrestrially during the autumn of 1991 and subsequently launched in March 1992.

Other cable channels available to receive in Sweden at the time included FilmNet
Filmnet
Nova Cinema is a premium television service available in Greece that broadcasts blockbuster movies and hit series. It is the only 24/7 Movie service in Greece and it launched in 1994. It is owned by Forthnet, who own and operate Nova a DTH satellite service and Nova Sports—a sports channel.Nova...

 (1985), TV1000
TV1000
TV1000 is a group of cable and satellite movie channels broadcasting to the Nordic countries and owned by Modern Times Group . It is also the name of the flagship channel.-History:...

 (1989), ZTV
ZTV
-History:The channel started in Sweden as a daily afternoon show in TV3 and TV4 in February 1991. The channel got its name as it was a simulcast version of the radio station Z Radio. There was also a Z magazine available for some time....

 (1991), TV21 (1993), TV6
Viasat Nature/Crime
Viasat Nature/Crime is a television channel broadcasting nature documentaries and crime movies and series. It is broadcasting to Sweden, Norway, Denmark and Finland. Since 2010, Viasat Nature became available in Ukraine....

 (1994), TV8 (1997) and Viasat Sport
Viasat Sport 1
Viasat Sport is a group of sports channels broadcasting from the United Kingdom. The channels are targeting the Scandinavian and Baltic countries, though the primary market of the channels is Sweden. This article concentrates on Viasat Sport channels in Sweden....

 (1999).

Sweden was one of the first countries in the world to launch digital terrestrial television
Digital terrestrial television
Digital terrestrial television is the technological evolution of broadcast television and advance from analog television, which broadcasts land-based signals...

 in April 1999. The arrival of digital television in the country has caused the number of television channels to multiply. The first high-definition television
High-definition television
High-definition television is video that has resolution substantially higher than that of traditional television systems . HDTV has one or two million pixels per frame, roughly five times that of SD...

 channel targeting the Nordic countries was C More HD
Canal+ Film HD
"Canal+ HD" redirects here. For the French simulcast channel of Canal+ ,see Canal+.For the Spanish simulcast channel of Canal+ ,see Canal+ Spain....

, which launched in 2005. SVT and TV4 made their first high-definition broadcasts in 2006.

Media companies

Four media companies dominate the Swedish television market:
  • Sveriges Television
    Sveriges Television
    Sveriges Television AB , Sweden's Television, is a national television broadcaster based in Sweden, funded by a compulsory fee to be paid by all television owners...

    , which owns SVT1
    SVT1
    SVT1 is the primary television station of the Swedish public service broadcaster Sveriges Television in Sweden.-History:The channel began broadcasting in 1956 and was known as Radiotjänst TV, A year later, it was renamed Sveriges Radio TV. In 1969, the second television station TV2 was launched and...

    , SVT2
    SVT2
    SVT2, until 1996 TV2, is one of two television channels broadcast by Sveriges Television in Sweden. It was started by Sveriges Radio in 1969. SVT2 is generally more specialist, compared to SVT1.-History:...

    , SVT24
    SVT24
    SVT24 or 24 is a Swedish language TV channel broadcast by Sveriges Television . It started broadcasting in 1999 as a dedicated news channel. In 2003 extended its scope to include other current events-related programmes and sports in the weekends...

    , SVTB and Kunskapskanalen
    Kunskapskanalen
    Kunskapskanalen is a Swedish language television channel broadcasting educational and factual programming between 9 a.m. and 01 a.m. all days of the week...

  • TV4 Group, which owns TV4, TV4 Plus
    TV4 Plus
    Sjuan is a sister channel of Swedish TV4, owned by TV4 AB. The main focus of the channel is on entertainment, sports and lifestyle programmes. The channel started as TV4 Plus in 2003 but changed name to Sjuan in September 2011....

    , TV400, TV4 Fakta
    TV4 Fakta
    TV4 Fakta is a Swedish documentary channel owned by TV4 Group. It started broadcasting in 2005.Much of the programming is taken from the A&E Television Networks. Since December 2005, the remainder of the schedule is filled with the English language Euronews...

    , TV4 Film
    TV4 Film
    TV4 Film is a Swedish film channel owned by TV4 AB.TV4 applied for a license to broadcast a film channel terrestrially in the autumn of 2003 and were granted a license in December...

    , TV4 Sport
    TV4 Sport
    TV4 Sport is a Swedish sports television channel owned by television company TV4 AB, with the tabloid news paper Expressen owning a minor share.- History :The channel was originally owned by Expressen who launched the channel on 17 March 2005...

    , TV4 Guld
    TV4 Guld
    TV4 Guld is a Swedish television channel devoted to "classic" programmes such as older television dramas.The channel launched on November 3, simultaneously with its sister channel TV4 Komedi, on satellite from Canal Digital and cable from Com Hem...

    , TV4 Komedi
    TV4 Komedi
    TV4 Komedi is a sister subchannel of Swedish TV4, owned by TV4 AB. The channel focuses on comedy only with sitcoms, comedy shows and talk shows...

     and the Canal+
    C More Entertainment
    C More Entertainment is a premium television company, operating under the banner CANAL+, that targets the Nordic Countries and with one separate channel in Sweden ....

     package.
  • Modern Times Group
    Modern Times Group
    Modern Times Group is a Swedish media company. MTG was formed out of the media holdings of investment company Kinnevik, which in 1997 was distributed to the company stockholders. Among the assets were Viasat and Metro International...

    , which owns TV3
    TV3 (Sweden)
    TV3 is a television channel targeted at a Swedish language audience owned by Viasat . It was founded on 31 December 1987 by entrepreneur Jan Stenbeck as joint Scandinavian channel, but Denmark and Norway soon got their own versions of TV3...

    , TV6
    TV6 Sweden
    TV6 is an entertainment television channel broadcasting to Sweden and now most of Europe through the Thor 2 satellite...

    , TV8, ZTV
    ZTV
    -History:The channel started in Sweden as a daily afternoon show in TV3 and TV4 in February 1991. The channel got its name as it was a simulcast version of the radio station Z Radio. There was also a Z magazine available for some time....

    , the Viasat Sport
    Viasat Sport
    Viasat Sport is the common brand of several sports channels targeting the Nordic, Baltic and Eastern European countries owned by Modern Times Group.Viasat Sport is also the name of one tv-channel in Russia, Belarus, Ukraine, Kazakhstan and the Baltics...

     package, the TV1000
    TV1000
    TV1000 is a group of cable and satellite movie channels broadcasting to the Nordic countries and owned by Modern Times Group . It is also the name of the flagship channel.-History:...

     package and some documentary channels.
  • 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...

    , which owns Kanal 5
    Kanal 5 (Sweden)
    Kanal 5 is a Swedish commercial television channel established in 1989. It is owned by the media corporation ProSiebenSat.1 Media.After a troublesome 1990s, Kanal 5 launched new strategies in the early 2000s that established it as a popular entertainment channel targeting young people...

     and Kanal 9
    Kanal 9
    Kanal 9 is a commercial television channel owned by ProSiebenSat.1 Media AG broadcasting to Sweden. It targets the 30-59 age group, which is a slightly older age group than the sister channel Kanal 5. The channel launched on 25 February 2007. Its opening night featured the 79th Academy Awards...

    .

Viewing share

The five largest channels by ratings have been SVT1, SVT2, TV3, TV4 and Kanal 5 since the 1990s, with SVT1 and TV4 attracting the largest audiences. In 2006, the most watched non-"big 5" channels were TV4 Plus, TV6, Eurosport, Discovery Channel and MTV. There were never more than three national channels in the analogue terrestrial network: SVT1 (from 1956), SVT2 (from 1969) and TV4 (from 1992).

Swedish television channels listed by their viewing share 1998-2010. Source: MMS.
1998
1999
2000
2001
2002
2003
2004
2005
2006
2007
2008
2009
2010
SVT1
SVT1
SVT1 is the primary television station of the Swedish public service broadcaster Sveriges Television in Sweden.-History:The channel began broadcasting in 1956 and was known as Radiotjänst TV, A year later, it was renamed Sveriges Radio TV. In 1969, the second television station TV2 was launched and...

22 22 20 27 27 25 25 24.2 21.8 19.0 19.2 21.0 23.2
SVT2
SVT2
SVT2, until 1996 TV2, is one of two television channels broadcast by Sveriges Television in Sweden. It was started by Sveriges Radio in 1969. SVT2 is generally more specialist, compared to SVT1.-History:...

26 25 24 17 16 15 15 14.3 14.5 12.5 10.5 7.5 6.9
TV3
TV3 (Sweden)
TV3 is a television channel targeted at a Swedish language audience owned by Viasat . It was founded on 31 December 1987 by entrepreneur Jan Stenbeck as joint Scandinavian channel, but Denmark and Norway soon got their own versions of TV3...

10 11 11 11 10 10 10 10.5 9.4 9.3 8.8 8.4 8.1
TV4 27 27 27 28 25 25 24 23.2 22.2 21.2 20.1 19.4 19.2
Kanal 5
Kanal 5 (Sweden)
Kanal 5 is a Swedish commercial television channel established in 1989. It is owned by the media corporation ProSiebenSat.1 Media.After a troublesome 1990s, Kanal 5 launched new strategies in the early 2000s that established it as a popular entertainment channel targeting young people...

6 6 6 6 8 8 8 9.2 8.8 8.2 8.0 7.2 6.8
ZTV
ZTV
-History:The channel started in Sweden as a daily afternoon show in TV3 and TV4 in February 1991. The channel got its name as it was a simulcast version of the radio station Z Radio. There was also a Z magazine available for some time....

/TV6
TV6 Sweden
TV6 is an entertainment television channel broadcasting to Sweden and now most of Europe through the Thor 2 satellite...

0.7 1.3 1.6 1.4 1.4 1.5 1.8 2.3 3.2 4.5 4.7 5.2 5.2
Eurosport
Eurosport
Eurosport is a pan-European television sport network operated by French broadcaster TF1 Group. The network of channels are available in 59 countries, in 20 different languages providing viewers with European and international sporting events...

1.6 1.5 1.7 1.6 1.4 1.7 1.9 1.6 1.6 1.4 0.9 0.9 0.6
MTV
MTV Sweden
MTV Sweden is a general entertainment channel broadcasting to the Swedish market. The channel replaced MTV Nordic on September 18, 2005.-History:* MTV Sweden launched in September 2005 along with MTV Finland and MTV Norge...

0.8 0.8 0.7 0.7 0.9 0.7 0.8 0.9 1.1 1.1 1.2 0.9 0.8
Discovery
Discovery Channel Sweden
Discovery Channel Sweden is the Swedish language version of the Discovery Channel, using a "factual entertainment" concept similar to the original American channel...

0.3 0.2 0.4 0.5 0.8 0.9 1.3 1.9 1.7 1.9 1.7 1.8 1.2
TV6/Viasat Nature/Action/Crime
Viasat Nature/Crime
Viasat Nature/Crime is a television channel broadcasting nature documentaries and crime movies and series. It is broadcasting to Sweden, Norway, Denmark and Finland. Since 2010, Viasat Nature became available in Ukraine....

0.9 0.5 0.5 0.5 0.5 0.3 0.4 0.3 0.3 0.4 0.4 0.3 0.2
Cartoon Network
Cartoon Network Nordic
Cartoon Network Nordic is a television channel broadcasting youth and children's programmes to Sweden, Norway, Denmark , Finland and Iceland. The channel was created in 2000 when it replaced the Pan-European version of Cartoon Network in the region....

0.3 0.5 0.5 0.4 0.5 0.7 0.3 0.6 0.6 0.5 0.5 0.4 0.5
Canal+
C More Entertainment
C More Entertainment is a premium television company, operating under the banner CANAL+, that targets the Nordic Countries and with one separate channel in Sweden ....

0.2 0.3 0.2 0.3 0.7 0.7 0.7 0.4 0.2
TV8 0.0 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.3 0.6 1.0 1.8 2.4
Animal Planet
Animal Planet Nordic
Animal Planet Nordic is a television channel broadcasting nature-related documentaries to the Nordic countries.Animal Planet was launched in the Nordic region in 1997. In 2001, the channel received a license to broadcast in the digital terrestrial network in Sweden. By 2008, the channel had...

0.0 0.1 0.1 0.3 0.4 0.4 0.6 0.6 0.6 0.6 0.6
Nickelodeon
Nickelodeon Sweden
Nickelodeon Sweden is a children's channel broadcasting to Sweden.Nickelodeon has been available in Sweden since 1996 when a pan-Scandinavian version was launched on the analogue Viasat platform...

0.0 0.3 0.3 0.3 0.4 0.8 0.6 0.9 0.9 0.9
SVT24
SVT24
SVT24 or 24 is a Swedish language TV channel broadcast by Sveriges Television . It started broadcasting in 1999 as a dedicated news channel. In 2003 extended its scope to include other current events-related programmes and sports in the weekends...

0.1 0.3 0.3 0.5 1.0 1.4 1.9 1.5 1.0
TV4 Plus
TV4 Plus
Sjuan is a sister channel of Swedish TV4, owned by TV4 AB. The main focus of the channel is on entertainment, sports and lifestyle programmes. The channel started as TV4 Plus in 2003 but changed name to Sjuan in September 2011....

0.6 1.3 1.8 2.4 3.3 3.9 4.0 3.7
Discovery Mix 0.8 0.8 0.3 0.3 0.2
Disney Channel
Disney Channel Scandinavia
For the Disney Channel in other countries, see Disney Channel . For the original Disney Channel, see Disney Channel.Disney Channel Scandinavia is an edition of The Walt Disney Company-owned Disney Channel broadcasting to the Nordic countries and Baltic states...

0.4 0.6 0.8 1.0 1.3 1.3 1.0 0.8
TV400 0.0 0.0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.6 0.6 0.5
SVTB
Barnkanalen
SVTB is a channel from Sveriges Television dedicated to children's programming.-History:Barnkanalen started broadcasting on 23 December 2002. During its first year it was only available from 6.30 a.m. to 6.00 p.m. on weekdays. The channel also took a "summer vacation" between 23 May and 18 August...

0.3 0.4 0.7 1.5 2.3 3.0 2.8
TV4 Sport
TV4 Sport
TV4 Sport is a Swedish sports television channel owned by television company TV4 AB, with the tabloid news paper Expressen owning a minor share.- History :The channel was originally owned by Expressen who launched the channel on 17 March 2005...

0.0 0.1 0.3 1.1 1.4 1.3
TV4 Film
TV4 Film
TV4 Film is a Swedish film channel owned by TV4 AB.TV4 applied for a license to broadcast a film channel terrestrially in the autumn of 2003 and were granted a license in December...

0.3 0.5 0.8 0.9 0.9 0.8
TV4 Fakta
TV4 Fakta
TV4 Fakta is a Swedish documentary channel owned by TV4 Group. It started broadcasting in 2005.Much of the programming is taken from the A&E Television Networks. Since December 2005, the remainder of the schedule is filled with the English language Euronews...

0.1 0.4 0.7 0.7 1.1 1.2
Kunskapskanalen
Kunskapskanalen
Kunskapskanalen is a Swedish language television channel broadcasting educational and factual programming between 9 a.m. and 01 a.m. all days of the week...

0.1 0.3 0.4 1.0
Kanal 9
Kanal 9
Kanal 9 is a commercial television channel owned by ProSiebenSat.1 Media AG broadcasting to Sweden. It targets the 30-59 age group, which is a slightly older age group than the sister channel Kanal 5. The channel launched on 25 February 2007. Its opening night featured the 79th Academy Awards...

0.9 1.6 2.0 2.2
TV4 Guld
TV4 Guld
TV4 Guld is a Swedish television channel devoted to "classic" programmes such as older television dramas.The channel launched on November 3, simultaneously with its sister channel TV4 Komedi, on satellite from Canal Digital and cable from Com Hem...

0.2 0.3 0.4 0.4
The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.  The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.
 
x
OK