Ríkisútvarpið

current logo of the station

Logo until March 2011

Ríkisútvarpið ( RÚV ; [ ˈricɪsˌu: tvar̥pɪð ] " The State Broadcasting ") is Iceland's public broadcaster . RÚV operates one television and two radio stations. He is a member of the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) and Nordvision , an association of state broadcasters in the Nordic countries .

General

As public broadcasters, the stations are largely financed on a fee basis. There are no commercial breaks within the individual programs, advertising is only broadcast between the programs.

On average, television programs have the highest ratings in the broadcasting area, with news magazines being the most successful.

It usually starts late in the afternoon and consists of self-produced news and talk shows, as well as children's television, series and films mainly from the USA , but also from Great Britain and the Scandinavian region .

In the meantime, internationally successful series such as Trapped - Gefangen in Iceland or The Valhalla Murders are produced and broadcast in cooperation with Scandinavian and German broadcasters (e.g. ZDF ) and Netflix .

history

In 1930 Ríkisútvarpið was founded by Icelandic law. In the beginning there was only one radio program, it was not until 1966 that Sjónvarpið (“TV”) started, the first and for a long time the only TV channel in Iceland. Public broadcasting was monopolized until 1985. With a new broadcasting law from 1986 commercial providers were added. The most important competitor since then is the private television broadcaster Stöð 2 ("Sender 2") . The operating company of Stöð 2 also offers some special interest channels (sports, news, music) as pay TV . There is also the smaller private television station Skjárinn , which is owned by the Icelandic telephone company Siminn. There are also several private radio programs in Iceland. In addition, American military programs can be received in the Keflavík- Reykjavík area , but these are aimed at the military personnel of the US bases there and are of no importance to the Icelandic population themselves.

In 1999, RÚV launched an Internet service that has been expanded and modernized since 2005 in order to match the level of other broadcasters.

Transmission area and transmission time

The transmission area is all of Iceland. Airtime of the two radio channels ("Rás 1" and "Rás 2" - "Welle 1" and "Welle 2" ) is around 16 hours a day, mostly from 7 am to 11 pm. A joint night program is broadcast during the night. Both radio programs broadcast a varied full program, ie different radio formats and target group orientation as in the German-speaking area are not pronounced. The Rás 2 program also broadcasts short regional information programs on working days.

The television program broadcasts programs on weekdays from around 4 p.m. in the afternoon until 1 a.m. On weekends and on public holidays, broadcasting usually starts at 8 a.m. and ends around 2 a.m. In exceptional cases, however, such as live broadcasts of sporting events or the like, the transmission time is extended.

A curiosity is the fact that until the 1970s the television program was only broadcast on Wednesdays and Fridays, and until 1983 the television program was suspended for the entire month of July. Thereafter, Thursday was the weekly television-free day until 1986.

The reception of the program broadcast via the long-wave transmitter in Hellissandur is possible in the northern parts of Germany during the night. In the southern parts of Germany this is difficult due to interference from the Europe 1 transmitter .

RÚV also broadcasts its programs digitally via the Intelsat 10-02 satellite on 1 ° West and could therefore also be received in Central Europe, but on the one hand the television program is sent encrypted in BISS (the two radio programs, however, are free to receive ), on the other hand this is a satellite with its programs insignificant for the German-speaking area and the satellite antenna of an average household in our part of the world is not geared towards it. The reception parameters are: Satellite Intelsat 10-02, orbital position 1 ° West, transponder 63, frequency 11.181 GHz, polarization vertical.

Many television programs and the two radio programs are freely accessible worldwide as live streams and recordings or podcasts of individual programs that can be called up on-demand .

broadcasts

• Kastljós : The most successful discussion show on Icelandic television. It airs Monday through Friday after the news. Famous guests were u. a. Heidi Klum , Silvía Nótt and Selma Björnsdóttir .
• Fréttir, íþróttir og veður : The main 30-minute news program airs every day at 7pm. It starts with a long list of topics (similar to France). This is followed by three to five main reports, which are introduced with an introduction. For each report, not only is the reporter's name displayed, but also his or her email address. The short news ticker includes around three messages. The sports section is accompanied by a separate moderator, reporting is mostly on handball , football and water sports. The main moderator closes the show with a brief greeting to the viewers and the passing on of the weather forecast.
• Veður : The 10-minute weather forecast is broadcast after the main news. It deals with the weather on Iceland and in Western Europe.
• Tíufréttir : Late- night news is broadcast at 10 p.m. on weekdays. They usually take no more than 15 minutes.

Offers for the disabled

There are few special offers for the disabled (subtitles for Icelandic films, sign language , audio films ) in the entertainment sector; on the other hand, almost all foreign films are broadcast with Icelandic subtitles. There is also a special television news for the deaf every late afternoon ( Táknmálsfréttir ). The broadcaster plans to increase the promotion of handicapped accessible television.

Since 2006, a 10-minute program for the deaf has been broadcast in sign language every week. This is remarkable as there are only about 250 deaf people in Iceland.

Video or teletext

The television program carries a teletext . Textavarp contains news, sports reports and the current program display. Weather forecast and program preview are only covered on a few pages.

Broadcasting building

Almost all programs are produced in a modern radio building in Reykjavík . This is also where the administration with its public relations work and the Internet editorial office are based. There are also four other offices spread across the island. Citizens' consultation hours are only held outside the main building by prior arrangement.

Contribution to the Eurovision Song Contest

The contribution to the Eurovision Song Contest is the sole responsibility of Ríkisútvarpið. So far, the Icelandic contribution has never taken 1st place, so the broadcaster has not yet been able to help host the event. The most successful contribution so far had Yohanna , who in 2009 with her song Is it true? took second place with 218 points. Ten years earlier, Selma took second place with 146 points.

The station was heavily criticized at the Eurovision Song Contest 2006 because it had not done anything against the behavior of Silvia Night . She insulted other participants and changed her song during rehearsal for the semi-finals, which is forbidden. Ríkisútvarpið defended his contribution.

The show achieved audience ratings of over 62 percent in Iceland.

Long wave transmission systems

Thanks to the long-wave transmission systems, the radio program can also be received far outside of Iceland:

• Gufuskálar transmitter for long wave (frequency: 189 kHz, power: 300 kW), tallest structure in Western Europe (height: 412 meters)
• Eiðar transmitter for long wave (frequency: 207 kHz, power: 100 kW), second tallest structure in Iceland (height: 220 meters)

Web links

• Homepage (Icelandic and English)

Individual evidence

1. ↑ cf. z. B. Rúv Sjónvarpið's program for December 20, 2010 and December 19, 2010 accessed on the station website : December 9, 2010