TV4 Sport was a Swedish

sports Sport pertains to any form of competitive physical activity or game that aims to use, maintain, or improve physical ability and skills while providing enjoyment to participants and, in some cases, entertainment to spectators. Sports can, ...

television channel A television channel is a terrestrial frequency or virtual number over which a television station or television network is distributed. For example, in North America, "channel 2" refers to the terrestrial or cable band of 54 to 60 MHz, with ...

owned by television company

TV4 AB TV4 AB (formerly Nordisk Television AB; previously traded as ) is a Swedish media company owned by Telia Company through TV4 Media (formerly known as Bonnier Broadcasting). The company owns the largest commercial television channel in Sweden, ...

, with the tabloid

newspaper A newspaper is a periodical publication containing written information about current events and is often typed in black ink with a white or gray background. Newspapers can cover a wide variety of fields such as politics, business, sports a ...

'' Expressen'' owning a minor share. In April 2014, a sports channel similar to TV4 Sport is launched as TV12 by the same company, replacing :sv:TV4 Sport Xtra. This channel was previously called TV4 Sport Xtra, with the name changed to TV4 Sport as TV12 was launched).

History

The channel was originally owned by Expressen who launched the channel on 17 March 2005. It was initially available in the analogue basic package from UPC cable, the digital "Medium" package from

Com Hem Com Hem was a Swedish brand owned by Tele2 AB which supplied Triple Play services that included cable television, broadband internet and fixed-line telephone. Founded in 1983 as Televerket Kabel-TV as part of the former state-owned Televerke ...

and the "Family" package from

Canal Digital Canal Digital was a Nordic pay TV and internet service provider in Norway, Sweden, Denmark and Finland that was founded in March 1997 as a joint venture between the French pay TV company Canal+ and the Norwegian telecommunications opera ...

on satellite. Sports rights used by the channel included matches from the football series Superettan and the

Wimbledon Wimbledon most often refers to: * Wimbledon, London, a district of southwest London * Wimbledon Championships, the oldest tennis tournament in the world and one of the four Grand Slam championships Wimbledon may also refer to: Places London * ...

. In May 2006, it was announced that TV4 AB bought a majority stake in the channel. The channel relaunched as "TV4 Sport-Expressen" with a new logo on 1 June. The deal meant that Sport-Expressen could use several sports rights held by TV4, including reruns of games from the

2006 FIFA World Cup The 2006 FIFA World Cup, also branded as Germany 2006, was the 18th FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial international football world championship tournament. It was held from 9 June to 9 July 2006 in Germany, which had won the right to host the ...

. Another change was announced in May 2007. TV4 AB had increased their ownership 66.2 percent. This will see the channel relaunch in September as "TV4 Sport". With the relaunch, it will take the space in the

basic package previously occupied by

Eurosport Eurosport is a group of pay television networks in Europe and parts of Asia. Owned by Warner Bros. Discovery through its international sports unit, it operates two main channels— Eurosport 1 and Eurosport 2—across most of its territories, ...

, thereby increasing the penetration for the channel while decreasing it for a major competitor. It will also get a slightly broader content by introducing series and documentaries related to sports. The change was successful in increasing the ratings for TV4 Sport. In April 2008, TV4 Sport passed Eurosport as the most watched sports channel in Sweden. In January 2008, the channel was launched on the

Viasat Viasat may refer to: *Viasat (American company) (founded 1986) * Viasat (Nordic television service) (founded 1991) * Danish 1st Division, officially Viasat Divisionen, second-highest football league in Denmark * Viasat Cup, 2006 Danish football to ...

satellite platform. By the end of March 2008, TV4 received a licence to broadcast the channel in the Swedish digital terrestrial television network. The licence was valid from 1 April, but it didn't launch immediately, partly due to a disagreement between TV4 and

Boxer Boxer most commonly refers to: * Boxer (boxing), a competitor in the sport of boxing *Boxer (dog), a breed of dog Boxer or boxers may also refer to: Animal kingdom * Boxer crab * Boxer shrimp, a small group of decapod crustaceans * Boxer snipe ee ...

over the pricing of the channel. TV4 Sport was finally launched on 11 May 2008, after TV4 and Boxer had reached an agreement that would make the channel available until 30 September.

Programming

Football

UEFA Europa League The UEFA Europa League (abbreviated as UEL, or sometimes, UEFA EL), formerly the UEFA Cup, is an annual football club competition organised since 1971 by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) for eligible European football clubs. ...

* Superettan * Swedish Cup *

Damallsvenskan The Damallsvenskan, Swedish for ''ladies all-Swedish'' and also known as OBOS Damallsvenskan for sponsorship reasons, is the highest division of women's football in Sweden. It is also referred to as the women's Allsvenskan. The term Allsvenskan ...

* Football League Championship * Football League One * Serie A TIM *

Copa del Rey The Campeonato de España–Copa de Su Majestad el Rey, commonly known as Copa del Rey or simply La Copa and formerly known as Copa del Presidente de la República (1932–36) and Copa del Generalísimo (1939–76), is an annual knockout footb ...

Eredivisie The Eredivisie (; ''"Honour Division"'' or ''"Premier Division"'') is the highest level of professional football in the Netherlands. The league was founded in 1956, two years after the start of professional football in the Netherlands. It is c ...

Ligue 1 Ligue 1, officially known as Ligue 1 Uber Eats for sponsorship reasons, is a French professional league for men's association football clubs. At the top of the French football league system, it is the country's primary football competition. A ...

Other sports

UFC The Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) is an American mixed martial arts (MMA) promotion company based in Las Vegas, Nevada. It is owned and operated by Zuffa, a wholly owned subsidiary of Endeavor Group Holdings. It is the largest MMA ...

* SHL of ice hockey (finals) * Elitserien of bandy * Swedish Super League of floorball * Table Tennis League *

Bundesliga The Bundesliga (; ), sometimes referred to as the Fußball-Bundesliga () or 1. Bundesliga (), is a professional association football league in Germany. At the top of the German football league system, the Bundesliga is Germany's primary footba ...

of handball

References

{{Swedish television channels Television channels in Sweden Sports television networks TV4 AB Television channels and stations established in 2005