TV 2 (Denmark)
| 220px | |
| Type | Broadcast radio network and television network |
|---|---|
| Country | Denmark |
| Availability | National, subscription only |
| Owner | Itself & the public |
|
Key people
|
Merete Eldrup, CEO Niels Boserup, Chairman of the Board |
|
Launch date
|
1 October 1988 (television broadcast) 23 August 2006 (radio broadcast) |
TV 2 is a publicly owned subscription television station in Denmark based in Odense. The station began broadcasting on 1 October 1988, thereby ending the television monopoly previously exercised by the Danmarks Radio (DR).
Contents
History
TV 2 has six subsidiary stations known as TV 2 Zulu, targeted at the youth; TV 2 Charlie, oriented towards older audiences; TV 2 News, a 24-hour news channel (launched on 1 December 2006); TV 2 Film, a non-stop movie channel (launched on 1 November 2005); TV 2 Sport, a dedicated sports channel; and TV 2 Fri, a leisure and hobby channel (launched on 5 May 2013), as well as the internet-based pay-per-view channel TV 2 Sputnik which started broadcasting in December 2004.
In 2006 TV 2 had about 1,000 employees and revenues of 1.9 billion DKK. The station has been a full active member of the European Broadcasting Union since 1990.
On 23 August 2006 TV 2 acquired at an auction the FM radio license relinquished by Sky Radio (part of Rupert Murdoch's Australia-based News Corporation) when it closed down its Danish operations in November 2005. The auction lasted 20 minutes, and TV 2's winning bid was worth 23,000,000 DKK.
Subscription
From 1 November 2009 all Danish television broadcasting became digital with DVB-T and MPEG4 standard. At the time, TV2 did not encrypt their main channel, but TV2 Zulu, TV2 Charlie, TV2 Film, TV2 News and TV2 Sport are subscription only channels.
Although TV2 has been broadcast terrestrially in the clear every since the channel was launched, from 11 January 2012, it started to encrypt its main channel with a monthly subscription charge of 12.50 Danish Kroner required to be paid, along with the purchase or rental a decoder[1]
In southernmost Sweden and northernmost Germany (where a Danish minority lives), this means significant difficulties for their viewers in Germany and Sweden, as subscribers need a Danish postal address for ordering a decoder card.
TV 2 Regions
| TV 2 Region | Area Served |
 |
|---|---|---|
| TV Syd | Southern Jutland including Southern Schleswig | |
| TV 2/Fyn | Funen | |
| TV 2/Øst | Western Zealand | |
| TV 2/Nord | Northern Jutland, Greenland and Faroe Islands | |
| TV 2/Lorry | North Zealand and Copenhagen | |
| TV/Midt-Vest | Central and Western Jutland | |
| TV 2/Østjylland | Eastern Jutland | |
| TV 2/Bornholm | Bornholm |
Programming
On weekdays, TV 2 starts with Go'morgen Danmark (Literally: Good Morning Denmark), Denmark's only breakfast talkshow on national TV.
At 11:00 they hand over to the regions who broadcast to 12:30 (with an interruption for national news). That is followed by TV 2's afternoon programming that mostly consists of American drama series and sitcoms. The regional stations also broadcast bulletins in the afternoon and evening, as well as a longer newscast at 19:30.
TV 2's main national newscasts are shown at 19:00 and 22:00 but bulletins in the morning (first newscast at 7:00), at 12:00, 14:00, 16:00 and 18:00 have been added over the years.
- 2 Broke Girls
- 24
- Ally McBeal
- Angel
- Beverly Hills, 90210
- Border Security: Australia's Front Line
- Californication
- Cheers
- Commander in Chief
- Desperate Housewives
- Dirty Sexy Money
- Doctor Who
- Friends
- Hope & Faith
- Jericho
- Joey
- Judging Amy
- Law & Order: UK
- Lie to Me
- Melrose Place
- Reba
- Six Feet Under
- Sliders
- Space: Above and Beyond
- The Good Wife
- The King of Queens
- The Sopranos
- The Voice
- Threshold
Most shows not produced in Denmark are shown in their original language with Danish subtitling, however animated series aimed at children are shown dubbed into Danish.
Funding
Historically TV 2 was funded by television license fees and advertising sales. However, although the regional channels are still partly funded this way, funding by television license for the main channel ended in July 2004.
This form of double financing, along with a large injection of capital (to cover a deficit of 1 billion DKK (€134 million)) from the Danish State, is currently under investigation by the EU; accusations being that the dual funding has constituted illegal state aid.
