Television was introduced in Finland in 1957, and digitalized in 2007/2008. Color television started in 1969. Prior to 1986, YLE monopolized the Finnish television. All terrestrial analogue stations stopped broadcasting on September 1, 2007. Cable providers were allowed to continue analog broadcasting in their networks until March 1, 2008. Typically, foreign-language content is subtitled, retaining the original language soundtrack. Foreign programming intended for children is, however, usually dubbed into one of the national languages. Regardless of the intended audience, many shows receive a Finnish and/or Swedish title which is used in programme schedules.
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Digital terrestrial television was launched on August 21, 2001. The analogue networks continued its broadcasts alongside the digital ones until September 1, 2007, when they were shut down nationwide.
Before the analogue switchoff, the terrestrial network had three multiplexes: MUX A, MUX B and MUX C. MUX A contained the channels of the public broadcaster Yleisradio and MUX B was shared between the two commercial broadcasters: MTV3 and Nelonen. MUX C contained channels of various other broadcasters. After the analogue closedown, a fourth multiplex named MUX E was launched.
In addition the free-to-air broadcasts, two companies are providing encryption cards for pay television: Canal Digital and PlusTV. Canal Digital was the first to launch, originally only offering four Canal+ channels (the Disney Channel was added later on). PlusTV was launched in November 2006, originally only broadcasting MTV3 Max and Subtv Juniori (later on adding Subtv Leffa and Urheilu+kanava). Both packages got more channels with the launch of MUX E in September 2007: SVT Europa and MTV3 Fakta was added to PlusTV and KinoTV was added to Canal Digital, while Discovery Channel, Eurosport, MTV Finland and Nickelodeon were added to both packages.
September 2007 also saw the launch of the SveaTV package in Ostrobothnia which broadcasts Swedish language channels from a special multiplex.
On the digital platform, subtitling isn't a part of the video stream, but is delivered as a separate data stream, which allows subtitling in multiple languages and the option to remove subtitles. Due to technical problems with the subtitles, many people cancelled their television licenses. This meant that YLE had to make drastic budget cuts. The digital channel YLE Extra was closed on December 31, 2007 and was replaced by YLE TV1+, a simulcast of TV1 with subtitles included in the video stream. TV1+ was closed on August 4, 2008 due to its low viewing share.[1]
Analogue cable television were switched off in Finland on 1 March 2008. Finnish major cable operators are DNA, Welho and TTV operating in Turku, Helsinki and Tampere areas. All pay television uses digital broadcasts, DVB-C set-top boxes have been available since 2001. Commercial HDTV-broadcasting has started even only small amount of program.
Digital satellite television started in Nordic countries, and also in Finland, by Multichoice Nordic pay-TV platform during 1996. First set-top boxes available were manufactured by Nokia and Pace. After that service merged with Canal Digital which started late 1997. Competing pay television Viasat and YLE's channel TV Finland started digital broadcasts in 1999.
Canal Digital launched some HDTV-channels, like Discovery HD, on their digital paytv-package during 2006. Pan-European HDTV-channel Euro1080 HD1 is available also in Finland.
After test period during 2005-2006, commercial mobile pay television service based on DVB-H standard will start in the beginning of 2007; among the services available will be Voice TV and Kiss digital radio.
Elisa is offering digital television on ADSL.
All YLE channels are broadcast free-to-air, so are a few commercial ones including MTV3, Nelonen, Sub, JIM, TV5 and The Voice. YLE channels are state owned and they are funded by a television license fee.
Most of the offer is the same throughout mainland Finland. In Ostrobothnia there is an extra multiplex available which provides encrypted Swedish-language channels.[2]
| No. | Channel Name | Free-to-air | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | YLE TV1 | Yes | documentaries, news, educative programmes |
| 2. | YLE TV2 | Yes | news, sport, entertainment, child's programmes |
| 3. | MTV3 | Yes | films, series, domestic drama, news |
| 4. | Nelonen | Yes | domestic series, international shows, news |
| 5. | YLE FST5 | Yes | programs by the Swedish department of YLE and SVT World's programmes |
| 6. | Sub | Yes | imported series, old favourites, domestic programmes |
| 7. | YLE Teema | Yes | culture, science, education |
| 8. | Liv | Yes | women's programmes, lifestyle programmes, films |
| 9. | JIM | Yes | series, documentaries |
| 10. | TV5 | Yes | films, series, documentaries |
| 11. | The Voice | Yes | music, entertainment |
| 12. | SuomiTV | Yes | series, films, harness racing |
| 14. | Iskelmä/Harju & Pöntinen | Yes | schlager music |
| 18. | Estradi | Yes | short term broadcasts |
| 40. | MTV3 MAX | No | men's programmes |
| 41. | MTV3 Fakta | No | science, documentaries |
| 42. | MTV3 Leffa | No | films |
| 43. | MTV3 Juniori | No | child's programmes |
| 44. | Discovery Channel | No | documentaries |
| 45. | Eurosport | No | sports |
| 46. | MTV Finland | No | music, entertainment |
| 47. | Nelonen Pro 1 | No | sports |
| 48. | Nelonen Pro 2 | No | sports |
| 49. | Nelonen Kino | No | films |
| 50. | Nelonen Perhe | No | family-friendly programming |
| 51. | Nelonen Maailma | No | documentaries |
| 52. | Disney Channel | No | child's programmes |
| 53. | CANAL+ First | No | films |
| 54. | CANAL+ Series | No | series |
| 55. | CANAL+ Urheilu | No | sports |
| 56. | CANAL+ Aitio | No | sports, films |
| 57. | URHOtv | No | sports |
| 58. | Nickelodeon | No | child's programmes |
| 69. | Digiviihde | No | pornographic films |
| 99. | AdultTV.fi | No | pornographic films |
| Channel Name | Free-to-air | Description | Reference |
|---|---|---|---|
| AVA | Yes | women's programmes, lifestyle programmes, films, series, documentaries | [3] |
| No. | Channel Name | Free-to-view | Description | HD | Frequency |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 21. | YLE HD | Yes | YLE's programmes in HD | Yes | UHF |
| 22. | YLE HD | Yes (Free-to-air) | YLE's programmes in HD | Yes | VHF |
| 23. | MTV3 HD | No | MTV3's programmes in HD | Yes | UHF |
| 24. | Nelonen HD | No | Nelonen's programmes in HD | Yes | UHF |
| 59. | Nelonen Pro 1 HD | No | sports | Yes | VHF |
| 60. | Nelonen Pro 2 HD | No | sports | Yes | VHF |
| 61. | Nelonen Kino | No | films | No | VHF |
| 62. | Nelonen Perhe | No | family friendly programming | No | VHF |
| 63. | Nelonen Maailma | No | documentaries | No | VHF |
| 67. | CANAL+ Urheilu HD | No | sports | Yes | UHF |
| 80. | Discovery Channel | No | documentaries | No | VHF |
| 82. | URHOtv | No | sports | No | VHF |
| 83. | Eurosport | No | sports | No | VHF |
| 85. | Animal Planet HD | No | documentaries | Yes | VHF |
| 86. | Showtime | No | films | No | VHF |
| 87. | MTV Live HD | No | music and entertainment | Yes | VHF |
| 88. | TNT7 HD | No | series | Yes | VHF |
| No. | Channel Name | Free-to-view | Description | HD | Frequency | Reference |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 34. | France24 | Yes | news | No | UHF | [3] |
| 64. | Animal Planet | No | documentaries | No | UHF | [3] |
| 65. | Discovery HD Showcase | No | documentaries | Yes | UHF | [3] |
| 66. | Eurosport HD | No | sports | Yes | UHF | [3] |
| Animal Planet | No | documentaries | No | VHF | [3] | |
| BBC Entertainment | No | series, light entertainment, child's programmes | No | UHF | [3] | |
| BBC World | No | news | No | UHF | [3] | |
| Canal+ Film HD | No | films | Yes | VHF | [3] | |
| Canal+ Urheilu HD | No | series | Yes | VHF | [3] | |
| Discovery Channel | No | documentaries | No | UHF | [3] | |
| Disney Junior | No | child's programmes | No | VHF | [3] | |
| Disney XD | No | child's programmes | No | VHF | [3] | |
| MTV3 MAX HD | No | men's programmes | Yes | VHF | [3] | |
| National Geographic | No | documentaries | No | VHF | [3] | |
| Nickelodeon | No | child's programmes | No | VHF | [3] | |
| Silver SD | No | films | No | UHF | [3] |
| Tesvisio | (1956–1965) | First Finnish TV channel. Tesvisio was bought by YLE in 1964. The channel was replaced by TV2 in 1965. |
| Tamvisio | (1957–1965) | Tesvisio's sister channel in Tampere area. The channel was replaced by TV2 in 1965. |
| MTV | (1957–1992) | The predecessor of MTV3. Operated in YLE's channels. |
| Kolmoskanava | (1986–1992) | The predecessor of MTV3 and first nationwide commercial television station. |
| PTV | (1989–1997) | The predecessor of Nelonen. |
| TVTV! | (2000–2001) | The predecessor of Sub. |
| ATV | (1999–2002) | Local Gonzo-journalistic cable-channel in Helsinki area. |
| MoonTV | (1997–2003) | Urban culture cable channel in largest cities. The channel was shut down after the company that owned it filed for bankruptcy. |
| MTV3+ | (2002–2006) | Additional programming, interactive entertainment. Was replaced by MTV3 MAX. |
| Nelonen Plus | (2003–2007) | Replaced by JIM in February 2007. |
| YLE24 | (2001–2007) | The news channel of YLE. Discontinued in April 2007 and was replaced by Yle Extra. |
| YLE Extra | (2007) | Live events channel of YLE. Discontinued in December 2007 and was replaced by Yle TV1+. |
| YLE TV1+ | (2008) | A simulcast of TV1 with subtitles included in the video stream. Discontinued in August 2008. |
| Diggari | (2004–2009) | Cable channel, focused operating outside Helsinki area. |
| Urheilukanava | (2001–2010) | Sports channel was replaced by Nelonen Sport in February 2010. |
| Urheilu+kanava | (2007–2010) | Sports channel was replaced by Nelonen Sport Pro in February 2010. |
| klubi.tv | (2007–2011) | Music channel. Broadcasted in nighttime. Discontinued in January 2011 |
| Channels | 1988 [4] |
1989 [4] |
1990 [4] |
1991 [4] |
1994 [5] |
1995 [6] |
1996 [7][6] |
1997 [7][6] |
1998 [8][6] |
1999 [9][6] |
2000 [10][6] |
2001 [11][6] |
2002 [12][6] |
2003 [13][6] |
2004 [14][6] |
2005 [15][6] |
2006 [16] |
2007 [17] |
2008 [18] |
2009 [19] |
2010 [20] |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| YLE TV1 | 34 | 36 | 33 | 33 | 25 | 25 | 26.7 | 25.4 | 25 | 23 | 22.6 | 22.8 | 23.6 | 23.3 | 24.6 | 24.5 | 23.8 | 23.8 | 24.1 | 21.9 | 22.2 |
| YLE TV2 | 23 | 20 | 21 | 19 | 19 | 20 | 21.5 | 23.0 | 21 | 21 | 19.7 | 20.5 | 21.8 | 20.0 | 20.3 | 19.1 | 20.0 | 17.4 | 16.8 | 17.7 | 18.9 |
| MTV3 | 46 | 46 | 44.6 | 43.6 | 42.2 | 42 | 40.4 | 39.1 | 37.0 | 38.1 | 34.7 | 32.6 | 29.0 | 25.7 | 22.9 | 22.8 | 21.6 | ||||
| YLE FST5[nb 1] | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 0.2 | 0.7 | 1.6 | 1.8 | 1.6 | |||||||||||
| SVT Channels | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0.4 | 0.4 | 0.4 | 0.5 | |||||||
| Nelonen[nb 2] | 2.7 | 3.5 | 7 | 10 | 11.5 | 11.6 | 11.6 | 11.3 | 11.5 | 12.4 | 11.9 | 10.2 | 10.0 | 9.9 | 9.3 | ||||||
| Sub[nb 3] | 0.5 | 0.8 | 1.2 | 1.8 | 2.5 | 4.2 | 4.6 | 6.0 | 6.0 | 6.7 | 6.5 | ||||||||||
| Eurosport | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0.6 | 0.7 | 0.7 | 0.7 | ||||||||||||
| Music TV | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0.9 | 0.8 | 0.7 | 0.7 | 0.5 | ||||||||||||
| YLE Teema | 0.6 | 1.3 | 2.2 | 2.6 | 2.5 | ||||||||||||||||
| JIM[nb 4] | 0.1 | 1.2 | 2.6 | 2.6 | 2.9 | ||||||||||||||||
| TV5/The Voice[nb 5] | 0.4 | 0.7 | 0.8 | 1.5 | 2.0 | ||||||||||||||||
| MTV Oy Pay TV | 0.2 | 1.3 | 2.4 | 2.5 | 2.2 | ||||||||||||||||
| Nelonen Sport[nb 6] | 0.7 | 1.2 | 1.3 | 1.3 | 0.6 | ||||||||||||||||
| YLE Extra[nb 7] | 0.7 | 0.8 | |||||||||||||||||||
| Discovery Channel | 0.5 | 0.6 | 0.7 | 0.6 | |||||||||||||||||
| Nelonen Pay TV | 0.1 | 0.2 | 0.3 | 0.4 | |||||||||||||||||
| Canal+ Channels | 1.1 | 0.8 | 0.8 | 0.6 | |||||||||||||||||
| TV1000 Channels | 0.7 | 0.6 | 0.5 | 0.3 | |||||||||||||||||
| Disney Channels | 0.4 | 0.4 | 0.4 | 0.3 | |||||||||||||||||
| TV4 | 0.2 | 0.2 | 0.2 | 0.2 | |||||||||||||||||
| Digiviihde | 0.1 | 0.1 | 0.0 | ||||||||||||||||||
| TurkuTV | 0.1 | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Animal Planet | 0.1 | 0.1 | 0.1 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Iskelmä/Harju&Pöntinen | 0.1 | 0.2 | 0.2 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Liv | 0.7 | 1.9 | |||||||||||||||||||
| SuomiTV | 0.7 | ||||||||||||||||||||
| URHOtv | 0.2 | ||||||||||||||||||||
| BBC Channels | 0.2 |
Combined viewing shares for all channels from different television companies in 2010.
| Company | Share |
|---|---|
| Yleisradio | 45.2% |
| Bonnier Group | 31.1% |
| Sanoma | 15.1% |
| ProSiebenSat.1 Media | 2.2% |
| Ontario Inc | 0.7% |
| TF1 Group | 0.7% |
| Discovery Communications | 0.7% |
| Viacom | 0.5% |
| Sveriges Television | 0.5% |
| Others (<0.5%) | 3.3% |
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