medianorway was established in 1994 by the Ministry of Culture as an information centre focusing on the Norwegian media sector. The objective was to compile Norwegian media statistics into one archive, ensuring access to updated information about different media from one central source. Another objective was to document the development of Norwegian media by collecting time series of statistical data from different sources. Data from the compiled statistics are published on medianorway's website, as well as in newsletters and other publications.

medianorway participates in a Nordic collaboration to produce comparative media statistics for the Nordic countries, coordinated by of the knowledge centre NORDICOM in Sweden. Results from this collaboration are published on Nordicom's website and in the book series Nordic Media Trends, which can be ordered from the same website.

medianorway is located at and operates under the supervision of the Department of Information Science and Media Studies at the University of Bergen.