Broadcasting and on-demand audiovisual services

The Broadcasting Act

Broadcasting and the provision of on-demand audiovisual services are regulated in the Broadcasting Act. The Ministry of Culture and Equality is responsible for the Act relating to broadcasting and on-demand audiovisual services and the accompanying regulations.

The regulatory provisions of the Act cover matters such as permission to engage in broadcasting (the duty to obtain a licence), rules on advertising, sponsoring and product placement, retransmission via cable networks, the distribution duty and general provisions on The Norwegian Broadcasting Cooperation's (NRK) organisation. The administration and supervision of the Broadcasting Act are mainly delegated to the Norwegian Media Authority.

The Broadcasting Act is largely based on international regulation, particularly the Audiovisual Media Services Directive 2010/13/EU (AVMS Directive). The AVMS Directive regulates, among other things, content and marketing in television and audiovisual on-demand services. Based on the legislative proposal Prop. 66 LS (2023-2024), the Storting has adopted amendments to the Broadcasting Act and certain other laws to implement in Norwegian law the amending directive to the Audiovisual Media Services Directive (AVMS Directive). The amendments include an extension of the scope of the Broadcasting Act to cover video-sharing platform services, and aim to provide increased protection against harmful and illegal content in such services. Additionally, there are stricter requirements for universal design of content in audiovisual media services. There are also increased requirements for the independence of the Norwegian Media Authority, the Directorate of Health, and the Directorate for Medical Products in supervising Norwegian provisions implementing the AVMS Directive. ((EU)2018/1808) in Norwegian law.

Public broadcasting

In Norway, we currently have a public service broadcaster (NRK). TV 2 has an agreement with the state to provide commercial public broadcasting on TV which expires 31 December 2028.

The Ministry is responsible for the ownership government of NRK. NRK is financed by grants allocated from the state budget and is mandated to offer public broadcasting via radio, TV and the internet. The NRK’s public service remit is set out in the NRK placard, which is incorporated into NRK’s articles of association.

NRK is organized as a stock-company 100 prosent owned by the state. It is the Ministry of Culture and Equality under the Minister for Culture and Equality that constitutes the company's general meeting. General meetings are held annually in June. In Prop. 1 S (2022-2023), the government presented proposals for changes in the NRK placard and proposed a four-year financial management. 

TV 2 has an agreement with the state to provide commercial public broadcasting on TV from 2024 to 2028. The agreement has a compensation up to NOK 150 million annually, including a reasonable profit. 
The public service remit includes obligations to deliver self-produced national news programmes supported by a central news desk, Norwegian-language programmes for children and young people, first-time broadcasts of Norwegian film and television drama. The broadcaster will be required to have its main editorial office and central news desk at least 100 km outside of central Oslo. TV 2 is located in Bergen. TV 2 must deliver its programmes on both linear TV and nonlinear platforms.

Licences

Under the Broadcasting Act, the Norwegian Broadcasting Cooperation (NRK) has a right to engage in broadcasting, all broadcasters other than NRK are subject to licensing. 

The Norwegian Media Authority grants licences for local broadcasting purposes and digital broadcasting. Further information can be found on the Norwegian Media Authority's website.