TV 2 (''TV to'') is a

Norwegian Norwegian, Norwayan, or Norsk may refer to: *Something of, from, or related to Norway, a country in northwestern Europe * Norwegians, both a nation and an ethnic group native to Norway * Demographics of Norway *The Norwegian language, including ...

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 o ...

. 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. 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 subtitled in

, 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 a ...

media company Egmont Group.

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 Dan Børge Akerø (born 23 January 1951) is a Norwegian television personality. He took his education at the University of Oslo, graduating with a cand.mag. degree. From 1975 to 1980 he worked as a research assistant and research fellow at the In ...

. 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 elite series match between Viking and Rosenborg, a concert with the Oslo Gospel Choir 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 and Holmgang, in addition to foreign series such as Cheers, The Naked Gun and A Country Practice.

TV 2 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 enc ...

platform. The first programme broadcast in HD was '' Allsang på grensen''. Other broadcasts in HD during 2009 include ''

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'', Friday and Saturday movies, Sunday night football, '' Jakten på kjærligheten'', ''

Skal vi danse ''Skal vi danse'' is the Norwegian edition of the British television series, ''Strictly Come Dancing''. It is produced by Monster Entertainment and broadcast on TV 2 (Norway), TV 2 Jon Peder Olrud and Geir Bie were producers in the first season. ...

'' and American series such as ''

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'', ''

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'', '' Scrubs'', '' Brothers & Sisters'', ''

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'' and ''

Criminal Minds ''Criminal Minds'' is an American police procedural crime drama television series created and produced by Jeff Davis. The series premiered on CBS on September 22, 2005, and originally concluded on February 19, 2020; it was revived in 2022. It ...

''. TV2 also produces original programming, including the award-winning show '' Gylne tider''. TV 2 HD is transmitted in 720p50.

Logos

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

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