TV4 AB

Type	Broadcast radio and television
Country	Sweden
Availability	National; international (via tv4.se)
Founder	Ingemar Leijonborg, Gunnar Bergvall
Owner	Bonniers, Proventus, Alma Media
Key people	Jan Scherman, Bengt Braun Daniel Sachs launch_date = 1990 (television)
Past names	Nordisk Television (1984-1990)
Website	www.tv4.se

TV4 AB (previously known as Nordisk Television AB) is a Swedish media company that owns the largest commercial television channel in Sweden, TV4. Image File history File links TV4_logotyp. ... Terrestrial television (also known as over-the-air, OTA, or broadcast television) is the traditional method of television broadcast signal delivery, by radio waves transmitted through open space, usually carrying unencrypted signals. ... Image File history File links Flag_of_Sweden. ... Bonnier is a Swedish media group owned by the Bonnier family. ... Alma Media is one of the largest media companies in Finland. ... Jan Scherman is a Swedish journalist and CEO for the Sweden-based TV company TV4 AB. He is active in political debate and is a major critic of the Göran Persson cabinet. ... Website - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia /**/ @import /skins-1. ... Aktiebolag is the Swedish term for a corporation, i. ... TV4 AB Logo. ...

The main owners of the company are Bonniers, Proventus, Schibsted, and MTV Oy. The stock is also traded at the Stockholm Stock Exchange. Bonnier is a Swedish media group owned by the Bonnier family. ... Schibsted is a Scandinavian media group. ... The Stockholm Stock Exchange is a stock exchange located in Stockholm, Sweden. ...

In an interesting move, two Swedish filmmakers sued TV4 over copyright infringement in November 2004 for placing commercials during their film's TV broadcasts. This was unexpected, given that commercial broadcasters around the world normally interrupt their programs to make money. Surprisingly, the filmmakers won. Though the verdict lacks any real effect, contracts today are written with a clause that commercial breaks will take place and both filmmakers claimed it to be a victory for directors in Sweden.

Businesses

Besides TV4, TV4 AB also broadcasts these channels: TV4 AB Logo. ...

• TV4 Plus, launched in March 2003 broadcasting sport, games and entertainment.
• TV4 Film, launched in April 2004 broadcasting uninterrupted movies.
• TV400, launched in January 2005 broadcasting youth-oriented entertainment, replacing the interactive Med i teve.
• TV4 Fakta, launched in September 2005, originally planned as a news channel, but eventually becoming a channel only broadcasting documentaries.
• Sport-EXPRESSEN (51% ownership), sports station in conjunction with daily tabloid Expressen.
• Tv4 Komedi, stars autumn 2006.
• Tv4 Guld, stars autumn 2006.

The company also owns TV4 Sverige AB that owns all the 16 regional stations and TV4 Vision that includes TV4 Text-TV and internet services like the websites tv4.se and blip.se and on-demand service TV4 Anytime. TV4 is also involved in the selling of merchandising, DVDs, CDs, magazines and books relating to the television programmes. TV4 Plus is a sister channel of Swedish TV4, along with TV400 (youth and entertainment), TV4 Film (movies) and TV4 Fakta (documentaries and science). ... TV4 Film is a movie channel owned by TV4. ... TV400 is an entertainment channel owned by TV4. ... TV4 Fakta is a Swedish documentary channel that started broadcast in 2005. ...

History

TV4 was founded in 1984 by Ingemar Leijonborg och Gunnar Bergvall as Nordisk Television AB ("Nordic Television"). They intended to start a Swedish commercial television channel.

It took several years for Leijonborg and Bergvall to find someone willing to invest in their channel, but it was eventually launched on September 15, 1990 as "TV4", broadcasting from the Tele-X satellite. A Norwegian sister channel, TV4 Norway, was also launched, but was sold a few years later. Tele-X (International Designator: 1989-27A, Catalog Number: 19919) was the first communications satellite serving the Nordic countries. ...

At the time, it was clear that the government intended to launch a third terrestrial station and that it would be commercially funded. The two main competitors for the new channel were Nordisk Television and Kinnevik (owners of TV3). Eventually it was Nordisk Television who got the license since Kinnevik agreed to withdraw their application. In exchange, Kinnevik bought 30 percent of Nordisk Television and a company called Airtime AB was set up to sell advertising in TV3 and TV4, giving Kinnevik control of almost all television advertising in Sweden. TV4 could start broadcasting terrestrially in the spring of 1992. Nordisk Television discontinued the Airtime agreement in 1993, a decision followed by years of discussion between Kinnevik and the other owners of the company. TV3 is a television channel targeted at a Swedish language audience owned by Modern Times Group (MTG). ...

Nordisk Television started trading on the Stockholm Stock Exchange in 1994 and changed its legal name to TV4 AB. The Stockholm Stock Exchange is a stock exchange located in Stockholm, Sweden. ...

With the terrestrial license followed an obligation to give some airtime to different regional companies. This would regularly be owned by TV4 in conjunction with local investors and media companies. With the start of TV4 Uppland the number of regional stations reached sixteen. Eventually, TV4 AB started buying regional stations and in 2001 they owned all but one, TV4 Fyrstad, which went bankrupt in 2003. TV4 then merged all regional stations into a single entity, TV4 Sverige AB.

TV4 started broadcasting in the digital terrestrial television network in 1999. In 2001, they started a experimentive interactive channel called Mediteve using the space on the digital multiplex. In 2003, a general entertainment channel called TV4 Plus was started. It was followed by TV4 Film in 2004, and TV400 and TV4 Fakta in 2005. It has been suggested that this article or section be merged into Digital television. ... TV4 Plus is a sister channel of Swedish TV4, along with TV400 (youth and entertainment), TV4 Film (movies) and TV4 Fakta (documentaries and science). ... TV4 Film is a movie channel owned by TV4. ... TV4 Fakta is a Swedish documentary channel that started broadcast in 2005. ...

For several years, TV4 wasn't a part of Kinnevik's digital satellite platform Viasat. However, in April 2005, TV4 Plus, TV4 Film and TV400 were launched on Viasat (the TV4 channel had to wait until 2006 due to contracts with the Canal Digital platform). Caption Viasat is a DTH distributor and a television network, founded by Jan Stenbeck and owned by Modern Times Group. ... Canal Digital was founded in March 1997 as a joint venture between the French pay-TV company CANAL+ and the Norwegian state-telecommunications operator Telenor. ...

In the digital television franchise round of 2006, TV4 applied for three new digital channels, but none of them were given a license.

In May 2006, TV4 bought 51 percent of the sports channel Sport-Expressen from the newspaper Expressen. Expressen is a Swedish right leaning newspaper founded in 1944. ...

Availability of channels

Laws in Sweden state that all television operators must carry the analogue version of TV4 (until 2008). As of 2005, TV4 is transmitted free-to-air on the digital terrestrial network while TV4 Plus, TV4 Film, TV400 and TV4 Fakta require subscription from Boxer, Canal Digital or Viasat via satellite, or cable TV from several cable networks, including Tele2, Com Hem and UPC. TV4 Plus is available in analogue form via most cable TV networks, while the others are mostly digital-only. Analog television (or analogue television) encodes television picture and sound information as an analog signal, that is, by varying the amplitude and/or frequencies of the signal. ... Free-to-air is a phrase used to describe television and radio broadcasts which are available without subscription and without decryption (pay-TV). ... Boxer TV Access is the Swedish digital terrestrial television (DTT) pay-TV-provider. ... Canal Digital was founded in March 1997 as a joint venture between the French pay-TV company CANAL+ and the Norwegian state-telecommunications operator Telenor. ... Caption Viasat is a DTH distributor and a television network, founded by Jan Stenbeck and owned by Modern Times Group. ... Tele2 is Europes biggest alternative telecommunications operator with over 28 million customers in 24 countries. ... Com Hem, Com Hem Communications AB of Sweden, supplies triple play services that include cable TV, Digital television, broadband and telephony. ...

See also: List of Swedish television channels This is a list of television channels that broadcast for a Swedish language audience. ...

External links

• TV4 - Official site
• TV4 - Corporate information
• TV4 - Investor relations in english