Julia Stoll
Research expert covering TV and video media
Television in Scandinavia - statistics & facts
Despite sporadic attempts in earlier decades, regular television broadcasting in Scandinavia, as it was the case in other European countries, gained foothold during the 1950s, when the first public television services were founded. Already during these early years of television, public broadcasters in the Nordic countries, including Sweden’s SVT, Norway’s NRK, and Denmark’s DR, founded “Nordvision” – an association to facilitate cultural cooperation as well as the exchange of programming.
Public television – the cradle of a new medium
Denmark was the first Scandinavian country launching television broadcasts in 1951, while Sweden and Norway followed with their television programs later in the decade. Yet, channels operated by public broadcasters remained the only ones available in Scandinavia until the late 1980s, when commercially founded channels launched their first official broadcasts. Today, Danish public television companies DR and TV2 operate several TV channels, reaching a combined market share of over 80 percent in Denmark. Likewise, Sveriges Television (SVT) and Norsk rikskringkasting AS (NRK) have also launched multiple channels. Their audience shares remained relatively stable in recent years, ranging mostly from around 35 percent (SVT) to more than 40 percent (NRK).The era of commercial television – an established medium facing challenges
As in the rest of Europe, the launch of commercial television challenged the public broadcasting monopoly and helped diversify the television landscape in Scandinavia. Subsequently, public service channels faced losses of audience shares in favor of their competition. Nowadays, the share of Scandinavians watching commercial television on a weekly basis ranged from 63 percent in Denmark to around 70 percent in Norway and Sweden. Furthermore, public broadcasters are getting increasingly criticized for fee financing. In contrast to other European countries, such as Germany, where owners of TV receiving devices pay a monthly license fee, benefiting all public TV and radio stations, Scandinavia opted for a different strategy. That is, as of 2019, all citizens in the Scandinavian countries pay a fee charged through an income-based tax.Online television – an old medium in a new guise
With technological progress, including the spreading of internet access around the globe, the television industry took the chance to expand their offer, while their audiences altered their consumption behavior. Since the beginning of the new millennium, Scandinavian TV channels launched online TV services, such as DR TV, NRK TV, or SVTPlay. Between 2011 and 2023, the share of people in the European Union who consume online television daily more than doubled, showing the growing influence of the new medium. While Sweden and Denmark were among the countries holding the biggest share of daily online TV consumers in Europe, SVTPlay and DR TV are the most popular streaming television services in both countries respectively. Now as well as in the upcoming years, online TV services will increasingly be competing with SVOD services on the streaming market.
