Sveriges Television
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Sveriges Television (SVT) is a national publicly-funded television broadcaster based in Sweden. The Swedish public broadcasting system is in many respects modelled after the one used in the United Kingdom, and Sveriges Television shares many traits with its British counterpart, the BBC.
Sveriges Television is a public limited company, owned by an independent foundation, and funded through a licensing fee, which is allocated by the Swedish Riksdag. It is now separate from, but was initially part of, Sveriges Radio, which is the public radio broadcaster. Its status could be described as that of a quasi-autonomous non-government organisation.
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History
Television broadcasting was officially started in Sweden by Radiotjänst ("Radio service") on September 4, 1956. Since 1957 the broadcasts are regular and the company was renamed Sveriges Radio (SR). In 1958, the first newscast, Aktuellt, was broadcast.
During the 1960's a second tv-channel was frequently discussed. The discussions resulted in the start of TV2 December 5, 1969. The first channel was named TV1 and the two channels were supposed to broadcast in stimulating competition within the same company. At the same time a second news programme was started, Rapport.
In 1966, the first color broadcast was made. In 1970, regular color broadcasts where introduced. 1970 also saw the start of the first regional programme, Sydnytt from Malmö. Teletext started in 1978.
In the end of the 70's SR was divided into four different companies. On of these where Sveriges Television, SVT, who stood for all television broadcasting, except educational programmin g which was handled by Utbildningsradion.
The two channels were re-organized in 1987. TV1 was renamed Kanal 1 and was the channel for Stockholm-made programmes and TV2 showed programmes from the rest of Sweden.
In 1996, the channels were once again reorganized. The previous organisation and competition between the two channels disappeared. Kanal 1 and TV2 where renamed SVT1 and SVT2. The first edition of Expedition: Robinson was shown in 1997.
The first digital terrestrial television-broadcasts took place in 1999. SVT started six new channels, the news channel SVT24 and five regional channels.
2000 saw the reorganisation of the news desks. Aktuellt, Rapport and SVT24 where merged into one central news desk.
In 2001 a new logotype, new programme schedules etcetera where introduced. This made SVT1 the broader mainstream channel with higher ratings and SVT2 the more narrow channel.
The regional channels where shut down in the beginning of 2002 and where replaced by SVT Extra. In december 2002, Barnkanalen, was started showing children's programmes during day-time. On February 24, 2003 SVT24 and SVT Extra where replaced by 24, a theme channel for news and sports.
Kunskapskanalen started broadcasting knowledge programming in September 2004.
Programming
- Melodifestivalen, preselection for the Eurovision Song Contest.
- Rapport and Aktuellt (translated "Report" and "Current"), the two main news programmes.
- Survivor - Sveriges Television was the first network to broadcast the reality television series Survivor in 1997. The show was named Expedition Robinson, alluding to Robinson Crusoe and was a major hit in Sweden. The show which consistently held high ratings was concluded after its seventh and final year on the network (the final season aired 2003-2004). The popular series is however to be continued on the commercial channel TV3, but with much lower rating.
SVT also shows US and British programmes, in the original language with subtitles, as is the case on other Nordic TV channels.
Channels
Broadcast nationally:
Satellite, Cable and Terrestrial Digital Stations:
- 24 - News Channel
- Barnkanalen - Literally the Children's Channel
- SVT Europa - European service.
- SVT Extra - "Special events" channel
- Kunskapskanalen - the Knowledge Channel
24 and Barnkanalen are available on free-to-air digital television in the terrestrial network. SVT Extra, which has no regular schedule, transmits live coverage of special events (chiefly sporting) when available. SVT Europa, a mix of SVT1 and SVT2, is broadcast on satellite, and also as a terrestrial channel in Swedish-speaking areas of Finland. For rights reasons, SVT Europa does not show acquired material, such as movies, sport, or English language programming.
See also
- TV4
- Viasat
- Swedish Educational Broadcasting Company
- Swedish Broadcasting Commission
- Swedish Radio and TV Authority
- Radiotjänst i Kiruna
- Teracom
External links
- Sveriges Television (http://www.svt.se) - Official site (in Swedish)