From 1933 until 1981, the Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation (NRK) comprised the sole general broadcaster of television and radio in Norway. Owned completely by the state, NRK was financed through fixed licence fees. Today, Norwegians have access to a variety of broadcasters on channels from Norway and abroad.
NRK launched the first national radio transmissions in 1933, and until the 60s its efforts were largely concentrated on expanding the technical infrastructure to make radio and, after 1960, television broadcasts available throughout Norway. In the 1980s the emergence of the first local radio stations as well as new cable and satellite channels dissolved NRK’s longstanding monopoly. NRK continues nonetheless to maintain a dominant position in Norwegian broadcasting. In 1988, local radio stations were granted permission to finance their activities through advertisement revenues, and in 1993, the first nationwide advertising-financed television and radio channels, respectively TV2 and P4, were established.
The channels financed by advertising are more clearly targeted towards popular entertainment than NRK, and feature a greater number of programmes produced outside of Norway. The proliferation of local radio stations and the popular nationwide P4 channel have helped to make music and light entertainment a dominant feature of current radio programming.
Edited from Aschehoug and Gyldendal's Norwegian Encyclopedia