TV 2 Direkte (''

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

: TV 2 Live'') is a Norwegian terrestrial television channel. Its headquarters are located in

Bergen Bergen (), historically Bjørgvin, is a city and municipality in Vestland county on the west coast of Norway. , its population is roughly 285,900. Bergen is the second-largest city in Norway. The municipality covers and is on the peninsula of ...

. TV 2 began test broadcasting on 13 November 1991, and a year later, it was officially launched on 5 September 1992, becoming Norway's first commercial free-to-air television channel. In 1992, TV 2 A/S was admitted as full active member of the

European Broadcasting Union The European Broadcasting Union (EBU; french: Union européenne de radio-télévision, links=no, UER) is an alliance of Public broadcasting, public service media organisations whose countries are within the European Broadcasting Area or who ar ...

. As is common with television (and cinema) in Norway, most foreign-language shows and segments of local programmes with foreign language dialogues (e.g. interviews with foreigners) are

subtitle Subtitles and captions are lines of dialogue or other text displayed at the bottom of the screen in films, television programs, video games or other visual media. They can be transcriptions of the screenplay, translations of it, or informati ...

d in Norwegian, not dubbed (with a notable exception being children's programmes). Since 2012, TV 2 is owned by one of its co-founders, the

Danish Danish may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to the country of Denmark People * A national or citizen of Denmark, also called a "Dane," see Demographics of Denmark * Culture of Denmark * Danish people or Danes, people with a Danish ance ...

media company

Egmont Group The Egmont Group (formerly The Gutenberghus Group) is a Danish media corporation founded and rooted in Copenhagen, Denmark. The business area of Egmont has traditionally been magazine publishing but has over the years evolved to comprise mass me ...

. The channel was renamed from TV 2 to TV 2 Direkte in 2023, in an attempt to differentiate it from their streaming servive ''TV 2 Play'' (not to be confused for the Danish service with the same name). Although ''direkte'' means "Live", far from all programming on the channel is actually broadcast live. The channel was free-to-air on terrestrial TV from its launch date until 1 January 2010, when it became a pay-TV channel. On cable TV and satellite it was ''de facto'' a pay-TV channel from the start.

History

In 1990, the Storting opened the way for an advertising-financed alternative to NRK to be established. The license was announced on 31 January 1991, with the requirement that no owner could own more than 20 per cent of the shares in the channel. There were many interested parties for the concession, and among others Schibsted, Egmont, Orkla, a grouping around Rolf Wesenlund and Arne Fjørtoft and an investor group called NTN went with plans to apply for the license. The license as won by TV 2 AS in 1991. The company was a consortium owned by Schibsted, Vital Forsikring, Gutenberghus, NTN, Selvaag, Bergens Tidende and Sissel Ditlevsen. TV 2 had its official start on 5 September 1992 with the show ''For første gang'' (For the First Time), led by Dan Børge Akerø. The show was a simulcast with NRK, and was seen by 1.7 million viewers. Normal broadcasts started the following day with the broadcast of an

Eliteserien Eliteserien () is a Norwegian professional league for association football clubs. At the top of the Norwegian football league system, it is the country's primary football competition. Contested by 16 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion ...

match between

Viking Vikings ; non, víkingr is the modern name given to seafaring people originally from Scandinavia (present-day Denmark, Norway and Sweden), who from the late 8th to the late 11th centuries raided, pirated, traded and se ...

and Rosenborg, a concert with the

Oslo Gospel Choir Oslo Gospel Choir is a Norwegian gospel choir centred in Oslo, Norway conducted by Tore W. Aas. The choir started up in 1988 and has since then become one of the most successful in Europe with success both in Europe and America. They have release ...

in addition to news, sports and a documentary. In addition, the American series Flipper and Et vilt liv had been given a place on the broadcast schedule. In the first week on the channel, viewers saw premieres of the channel's own productions such as VTV,

Askeladden Ashlad (Norwegian "Askeladden", full name "Esben Askelad" or "Espen Askeladd") is a main character in a number of tales collected in Asbjørnsen and Moe's ''Norwegian Folktales''. The character starts out being regarded as an incapable underachi ...

and Holmgang, in addition to foreign series such as Cheers, The Naked Gun and A Country Practice.

TV 2 Direkte HD

TV 2 started broadcasting in high-definition on 25 June 2009. Initially, the channel was only available on the terrestrial

RiksTV RiksTV (formerly ''NTV Pluss'') is the distributor of pay television in the Norwegian digital terrestrial television network. Except for NRK1, NRK2, NRK3/NRK Super and the NRK radio channels, all broadcasts in the Norwegian DTT network are encryp ...

platform. The first programme broadcast in HD was ''

Allsang på grensen Allsang på Grensen (''Sing-along at the Border'') was a Norwegian musical entertainment programme that has been broadcast every summer on the TV 2 channel following its premiere in June 2007. The programme is based on the Swedish program ''Alls ...

''. Other broadcasts in HD during 2009 include ''

Tour de France The Tour de France () is an annual men's multiple-stage bicycle race primarily held in France, while also occasionally passing through nearby countries. Like the other Grand Tours (the Giro d'Italia and the Vuelta a España), it consists ...

'', Friday and Saturday movies, Sunday night football, '' Jakten på kjærligheten'', '' Skal vi danse'' and American series such as '' Grey's Anatomy'', '' Cleaners'', ''

Scrubs Scrub(s) may refer to: * Scrub, low shrub and grass characteristic of scrubland * Scrubs (clothing), worn by medical staff * ''Scrubs'' (TV series), an American television program * Scrubs (occupation), also called "scrub tech," "scrub nurse," o ...

'', '' Brothers & Sisters'', '' Modern Family'' and ''

Criminal Minds ''Criminal Minds'' is an American police procedural crime drama television series created and produced by Jeff Davis (writer), Jeff Davis. The series premiered on CBS on September 22, 2005, and originally concluded on February 19, 2020; it was r ...

''. TV2 also produces original programming, including the award-winning show ''

Gylne tider ''Gylne tider'' (first season: ''Gyldne tider'', in English language, English: ''Golden times'') is a Norwegian television series that has aired on TV 2 (Norway), TV2. The show has produced four seasons which premiered in 2002, 2004, 2006 and 201 ...

''. TV 2 Direkte HD is transmitted in 720p50.

Original programming

TV 2 Nyhetene TV 2 Nyhetene is Norway's TV 2 regular news that has been shown every day since the start of 1992, at 18:30 and at 21:00. There used to be a shorter newscast that ran around midnight, but ended around the time TV 2 Nyheter started. The 21:00 news ...

* God morgen Norge *''Kompani Lauritzen'' *''Kasko''

Discontinued original programming

*''Torsdag kveld fra Nydalen'' *''Senkveld med Thomas og Harald'' *

Hotel Cæsar ''Hotel Cæsar'' is a Norwegian soap opera that aired on TV 2 from 24 October 1998 until 14 December 2017. From the start in 1998, the show was broadcast Monday to Friday, except during the autumn of 2006, where the show was broadcast Monday t ...

Logos

File:TV 2 (Norway) logo.svg, TV2 logo (2003–2013) File:Tv-2-norway.png, TV2 logo (2013–2021) File:TV2-2021.svg, TV2 logo (2021–)

Distribution

Although TV 2 is a terrestrial channel, a paid subscription with

is required to view the channel in that manner. The channel is also available on cable, satellite, and IPTV platforms nationwide as well as selected pay-TV platforms in neighbouring Sweden and Denmark.

References

External links

*
Television schedule
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Tv 2 (Norway) Television channels in Norway Television channels and stations established in 1992 Television channels and stations established in 1991 1991 establishments in Norway 1992 establishments in Norway Mass media in Bergen European Broadcasting Union members