Number of Norwegian radio channels - Medianorway - facts about norwegian media - statisticsmenu

Number of Norwegian radio channels

The overview of nationwide, regional and local radio channels in Norway is based upon information from the Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation (NRK) and the Norwegian Media Authority. NRK publishes annual reports in which the company's activities are accounted for. The Norwegian Media Authority is responsible for granting licences to local broadcasts, and has information about number of licences granted, and about companies and owners.

In the period 2010-2017 some channels in local radio chains in the FM network were granted a nationwide DAB license. These channels were included both in the number of local channels and among nationwide channels.

Number of Norwegian radio channels 1988 - 2020

Type	Reach	1980	1981	1982	1983	1984	1985	1986	1987	1988	1989
FM	Nationwide	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	2	2
	Regional	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	18	18
	Local	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	486	458

Type	Reach	1990	1991	1992	1993	1994	1995	1996	1997	1998	1999
FM	Nationwide	2	2	2	4	4	4	4	4	4	4
	Regional	18	18	18	18	18	18	18	18	18	18
	Local	442	422	424	416	386	369	308	312	297	286
DAB	Nationwide	-	-	-	-	-	1	1	2	2	3

Type	Reach	2000	2001	2002	2003	2004	2005	2006	2007	2008	2009
FM	Nationwide	4	4	4	4	5	5	5	5	5	5
	Regional	18	18	16	16	16	16	16	16	16	16
	Local	274	259	274	267	259	249	249	242	241	237
DAB	Nationwide	3	3	3	3	3	4	5	8	9	8
	Regional	2	2	2	2	3	4	3	2	2	1

Type	Reach	2010	2011	2012	2013	2014	2015	2016	2017	2018	2019
FM	Nationwide	5	5	5	5	5	5	5	0	0	0
	Regional	16	16	16	16	16	16	16	0	0	0
	Local	250	253	251	250	238	231	208	186	184	197
DAB	Nationwide	11	12	13	13	15	18	24	31	30	32
	Regional	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	15	15	15
	Local	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	42	27	-

Type	Reach	2020
FM	Nationwide	0
	Regional	0
	Local	78
DAB	Nationwide	32
	Regional	15
	Local	57

Notes:

The national FM network closed down in 2017, while local FM transmitters are still in use.

In the period 2010-2017some channels in local radio chains in the FM network, were licensed to transmit nationwide in DAB/DAB+. These channels were included both in the number of nationwide DAB/DAB+ channels as well as in the number of local FM channels.

2010 onwards DAB includes DAB+. In the future one expects all DAB transmissions in Norway to be converted to DAB+.

Prior to the DAB transition in 2017 some DAB channels were also broadcast in the FM net in the large cities. FM channels may also have been distributed in DAB/DAB+; this was the case for the nation-wide channels and several local radio channels.

Until 2020, the number of local channels referred to number of concessions. Not all channels holding a concession were necessarily in operation. From 2020 onwards the Media Authority operates with number of local channels instead of number of concessions. Companies can have several concessions but be broadcasting the same local radio channel in more than one area.

Regional FM channels consist of NRK's regional transmissions ('windows'), including sami transmissions. The regional DAB channel since 2010 is NRK Vær, which transmits in the coastal areas.

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