Norges Televisjon AS, or NTV, is the company that holds the concession

Concession (contract)

A concession is a business operated under a contract or license associated with a degree of exclusivity in business within a certain geographical area. For example, sports arenas or public parks may have concession stands. Many department stores contain numerous concessions operated by other...

 to operate the 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...

 (DTT) network 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...

. The infrastructure is owned by the Telenor-subsidiary Norkring

Norkring

is a Norwegian company owned by Telenor. The Norwegian part of the company is responsible for the terrestrial broadcast of radio and television channels in Norway. The company operates 6,500 antennas and 47 main stations. Norkring has built out the DTT and operates the DTT network in Norway with 5...

, while the content is provided by the Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation (NRK) and RiksTV

RiksTV

RiksTV is the distributor of pay television in the Norwegian digital terrestrial television network. It is owned by Norges televisjon as, a consortium owned by Norsk rikskringkasting, the TV 2 Group and Telenor....

. The company is owned in equal shares by NRK, 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 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...

. The same companies also own RiksTV, that offers a range of pay television channels.

NTV was established in 2002, and received a 15-year concession in 2006. DTT was introduced gradually starting in 2007, and by the end of 2008, full coverage had been reached. In 2008, the analog shutdown started, which will be completed by the end of 2009. The main network will provide digital TV-signals to 95 percent of the Norwegian population, including any areas in a satellite television

Satellite television

Satellite television is television programming delivered by the means of communications satellite and received by an outdoor antenna, usually a parabolic mirror generally referred to as a satellite dish, and as far as household usage is concerned, a satellite receiver either in the form of an...

 shadow.

History

Norkring, a Telenor subsidiary that also owns the analog television

Analog television

Analog television is the analog transmission that involves the broadcasting of encoded analog audio and analog video signal: one in which the message conveyed by the broadcast signal is a function of deliberate variations in the amplitude and/or frequency of the signal...

 network, started trial sending of DTT in 1999, based on 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...

 and MPEG-2

MPEG-2

MPEG-2 is a standard for "the generic coding of moving pictures and associated audio information". It describes a combination of lossy video compression and lossy audio data compression methods which permit storage and transmission of movies using currently available storage media and transmission...

 technology. Norsk Televisjon was founded by NRK and TV 2 on 15 February 2002. Telenor became a partner on 16 September 2005. The concession was awarded by the Norwegian Ministry of Culture on 2 July 2006, with a duration of 15 years.

The company was established to finance the DTT network in Norway. With a needed investment of NOK 1.5 billion, it was planned that this could be financed by private investors by allowing them to use most of the capacity to distribute pay TV, through the company RiksTV. The physical installations are owned by Norkring, and broadcasting is done with DVB-T standard using 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...

 encoding.

DTT was introduced gradually starting in 2007, and by the end of 2008, full coverage had been reached. In 2008, the analog shutdown started, after a 6–12 months period of parallel operation in each region, which will be completed by the end of 2009. From the beginning, all channels available in the analog network are also available unencrypted in the digital network, including the NRK channels, TV 2 and local television. From 2010, TV 2 will become a pay channel, and all non-NRK channels will only be available via a subscription from RiksTV.

Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation

Three television channels and thirteen radio channels are available unencrypted. These are financed through television licence

Television licence

A television licence is an official licence required in many countries for the reception of television broadcasts...

. The television channels are 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...

, 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...

 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,...

/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...

 (these send on the same channel at different times). The radio channels are NRK P1

NRK P1

NRK P1 is one of three nation-wide analogue radio channels operated by the Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation . It is the direct descendant of NRK's first radio station which began broadcasting in 1933...

, NRK P2

NRK P2

NRK P2 is one of three nation-wide analogue radio channels operated by the Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation . It was established as NRK's second radio channel in 1984, and focuses on culture and current affairs – news, debate, analysis, science, society.In 1999 its employees were...

, NRK P3

NRK P3

NRK P3 is one of three nation-wide analogue radio channels operated by the Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation . It was established as NRK's third radio channel in 1993, and focuses on youth culture: principally music, together with humour, entertainment, and health education.Over the years NRK P3...

, NRK mP3, 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...

, NRK Sport, NRK Alltid Nyheter

NRK Alltid nyheter

NRK Alltid nyheter is a Norwegian news radio channel operated by the government-owned Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation , broadcasting news 24 hours a day....

, NRK Sámi Radio

NRK Sámi Radio

NRK Sápmi is a Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation unit that produces radio, television, and Internet news and other programs for the Sámi people. The first radio news program in Sami language started in 1946 in Tromsø with Katrine Johnsen as the host...

, NRK Gull, NRK Jazz

NRK Jazz

NRK Jazz is a Norwegian radio station operated by the Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation that broadcasts jazz music through DAB Digital Radio. The station also streams live on the internet....

, NRK Folkemusikk, NRK Klassisk

NRK Klassisk

NRK Classic is a Norwegian radio station of the Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation that broadcasts classical music 24 hours a day.- History :...

 and NRK Stortinget

NRK Stortinget

NRK Stortinget is a radio station provided by the Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation . It broadcasts live debates from the Norwegian legislature Storting, and is available on digital audio broadcasting as well as online....

.

RiksTV

The first channels were announced on 12 June 2007 were: 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....

, 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...

, TV 3

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...

, TV 2 Zebra, Discovery Channel

Discovery Channel

Discovery Channel is an American satellite and cable specialty channel , founded by John Hendricks and distributed by Discovery Communications. It is a publicly traded company run by CEO David Zaslav...

, 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...

, The Voice TV

The Voice TV Norway

The Voice TV is a Norwegian language television channel operated by ProSiebenSat.1 Media AG that mostly broadcast music. It was launched in 2004, its sister channels in Sweden, Finland and Denmark launching the same year....

, SportN, TV 2 Filmkanalen, TV 2 Nyhetskanalen

TV 2 Nyhetskanalen

TV 2 Nyhetskanalen is a Norwegian language television news channel which started broadcasting on January 15, 2007. It is Norway's first national news network in Norwegian, although Nyhetskanalen did exist from 1997 to 1998....

, Viasat 4

Viasat 4

Viasat 4 is a television channel broadcasting to Norway owned by the Modern Times Group. The channel was launched on 8th September 2007, a week after the launch of the digital terrestrial television network in Norway, replacing ZTV which ceased broadcasting shortly before.The channel opened with...

, TVNorge2

FEM (TV channel)

Fem is a Norwegian television channel targeting young women...

 (was named FEM the next day), Canal+ Sport 1

Canal+ Sport 1 (Scandinavia)

Canal+ Sport 1 is the name of four Scandinavian sports channels owned by C More Entertainment. They launched as the pan-Nordic Canal+ Sport on May 1, 2004 when C More introduced themed channels for movies and sports. On September 1, 2005, most sports broadcasts were moved to Canal+ Sport and...

 and Canal+ Film 1. The radio channels P4

P4 Radio Hele Norge

P4 Radio Hele Norge AS Norway's leading national, private radio station with 24% national market share, about one million daily listeners and two million weekly....

, Kanal 24

Kanal 24

Radio Norge is a Norwegian radio station with headquarters in Fredrikstad. It is subsidiary of ProSiebenSat.1 Media AG. Radio Norge replaced Kanal 24 at noon on April 21, 2008, with a new profile decided by their listeners...

 and Radio 1

Radio 1 (Norway)

Radio 1 is a radio network in Norway. It is available in the towns and environs of Oslo, Trondheim, Bergen and Stavanger....

 were also included.

On 4 July, it was announced that Animal Planet

Animal Planet

Animal Planet is an American cable tv specialty channel that launched on October 1, 1996. It is distributed by Discovery Communications. A high-definition simulcast of the channel launched on September 1, 2007.-History:...

, Canal+ Film 2, the National Geographic Channel, TV 2 Sport

TV 2 Sport (Norway)

TV 2 Sport, stylized as TV 2 SPORT 1 to 5, is a Norwegian pay-TV channel that shows sports . It heavily features soccer, including the Norwegian Premier League. This channel also broadcasts some international matches form Norway and also from the World, like som Friendly matches...

 and local television would launch later on. It was however announced in July that BBC World

BBC World

BBC World News is the BBC's international news and current affairs television channel. It has the largest audience of any BBC channel in the world...

would become a part of the RiksTV package and that Animal Planet, Canal+ Film 2 and National Geographic would be a part of the package from the start, thanks to new compression technology.

Coverage

Government regulations states that the first multiplex must cover at least 95% of the population. Coverage is defined as sufficient field strength at a permanent residence with a directional outdoor antenna placed up to 10 meters above the ground. Persons permanently living in residential areas located in defined satellite shadow shall also have access to the programs in this multiplex. The second multiplex must be rolled-out in parallel with the first multiplex and also offer 95% population coverage. However, it does not need to cover the satellite shadow areas.

A supplementary network consisting of 400–800 antennas will be established to cover about 12,000 households, that are unable to receive TV-signals either from satellite, cable or broadband distributions.

A satellite shadow area has been mainly defined as following:

• No access to cable network or other technologies such as broadband.
• Cannot receive signals from a satellite where NRK1, NRK2 and TV2 are available because: 1) no clear line of sight from the parabolic antenna to the satellite, even when the antenna is placed in an in the invitation in detail defined optimum location. 2) the line of sight and reception is obstructed by mountains or other topographic conditions.

Milestones of Norwegian Digital Television

• 1960 Launch of formal television transmissions by the public broadcaster NRK
• 1992 Launch of commercial television broadcaster TV2
• 1997 Launch of digital satellite television
• 1998 DTT testing begins in Oslo
• 1999 2 December. DTT legal framework established
• 2000 June. Pilot trials cover 25% of population
• 2002 18 April. Government approves DTT licence procedure
• 2002 28 June. Invitation to tender for the DTT frequency license and the broadcasting facility license
• 2004 19 February. The Norwegian Parliament (Stortinget) increases the requirements for DTT population coverage
• 2005 10 February. Request by the only applicant for the DTT licenses, Norges Televisjon AS (NTV), to extend the length of the license from 12 to 15 years
• 2005 30 June. Government re-opens invitation to tender for the DTT licenses
• 2005 30 September. Deadline for submitting the DTT licenses application
• 2006 2 June. Government issues the licence to build and maintain the DTT operation to Norges televisjon.