Television in Iceland
Television in Iceland began in September 1966. Channels can be received via analogue, or using broadband with the Skjárinn service from Síminn or Digital Ísland from Vodafone.
List of channels
Present channels
- Sjónvarpið, the television channel of RÚV, they are Icelandic National Broadcasting Service. Available as free-to-view on the satellite Thor 2.
- Stöð 2 The oldest privately owned television channel in Iceland (1986). Also available as Stöð 2+ with one hour delay.
- Stöð 2 Extra (previously called Sirkus) Entertainment channel previously available as free but is now only available as a complement to Stöð 2 subscription
- Stöð 2 Bíó Movies 24/7.
- Stöð 2 Sport (previously called Sýn) Mostly sports with one hour delay on Stöð 2 Sport+.
- Stöð 2 Sport 2 (previously called Sýn 2) FA Premier League and The Football League.
- Stöð 2 Sport 3, Stöð 2 Sport 4, Stöð 2 Sport 5 and Stöð 2 Sport 6 Extra channels for special sport events, used mostly for Champions League and Premier League matches.
- Nova TV (previously called Sirkus and before that Popp Tíví) Music videos. Free channel.
- Stöð 2 Sport HD Iceland's first HD channel. Launched in October 2007 broadcasting Sýn and Sýn 2 events in 1080i. To start with live games from the FA Premier League and UEFA Champions League. Expect many of Sýn and Sýn 2 sports to be available on Sýn HD in 2008 including major golf tournaments, NBA basketball, Wimbledon tennis, championship boxing and more football. Note: Since Iceland is outside a lot of satellite footprints and HD requiring more bandwidth, many events can only reach Iceland in standard definition although they are available in HD in other countries.
- SkjárEinn Entertainment channel - was free and run with advertisement revenue only until November, 2009. Only available through subscription after that. Also available with one hour delay on SkjárEinn plús
- Alþingi Parliament.
- N4 Television channel broadcasting only in the town of Akureyri.
- Omega Christian television channel,
- Fasteignasjónvarpið A channel that offers real estate.
- ÍNN All-talk.
- Stöð 1 Launched Oct 29th 2010. Entertainment channel, Free to air, non subscribtion. Reaches 98% of all households in Iceland.
Cancelled channels
- NFS, now a news service providing news for Vísir.is and television channels of 365
- Skjár tveir Was meant to be an ad-free channel paid for by the viewers. It didn't go as planned and soon merged with Skjár einn.
- Stöð þrjú The old channel was used. But was bought quickly and shut down in the meaning, it was merged by Stöð 2.
- Skjár sport Showed Premier League matches for the seasons 2005-2006 and 2006-2007.
International Channels available in Iceland
Additional international channels are available in Iceland through Vodafone Iceland, Síminn and Skjarinn
Overview of Icelandic TV
TV Appearances
Test card for RUV
The testcard of RUV is PM5544 introduced in the 70's.
Text has been changed 3 times, minor change 5 times, returned 2 times
- 1970-1994 - "RUV - ISLAND"
- 1995 - Added time and date
- 2000 - Remove time and date
- Remove "ÍSLAND" and replace with the moving bar
- 2002 - Return the 1995 version
- 2006 - Return the 2000 version
- 2009 - Changed to PM5644
RUV's testcard is beep, but the last 15 minutes plays classical music
Closing and Opening times
RUV still closes down at night.
RUV
- 1966–present opens at 16:30 for weekdays and closes at 0:00. Weekends and holidays open at 9:00, though sometimes with midday break.
- 2004–present weekends and holidays open at 8:00.
Stod 2
- 1986-1988 opens at 8:00 and close at 23:00
- 1988-1995 opens at 6:00 and close at 0:00
- 1995–present open 24 hours
Programming
Icelandic programming including LazyTown foreign shows with Icelandic captions.
Imported
| The Amazing Race |
The Simpsons |
Beauty and the Geek |
Hotel Babylon (BBC Series) |
Mile High |
| The Oprah Winfrey Show |
Neighbours |
Fear Factor |
Wife Swap |
The Apprentice |
| Third Watch |
24 |
Joey |
Extreme Makeover: Home Edition |
The Shield |
| NCIS |
Kevin Hill |
Two and a Half Men |
The Osbournes |
Whose Line is it Anyway? |
| Monk |
Shark |
The 4400 |
Nip/Tuck |
Prison Break |
| Rome |
Huff |
My Life in Film |
Grey's Anatomy |
You Are What You Eat |
| Punk'd |
Listen Up |
How I Met Your Mother |
Missing |
Strong Medicine |
| Most Haunted |
The Closer |
NUMB3RS |
Entourage |
Cold Case |
| The George Lopez Show |
The Bernie Mac Show |
Studio 60 |
Alias |
Broken News |
| Criminal Minds |
Desperate Housewives |
ER |
Little Britain |
Lost |
| Murphy's Law |
My Family |
Scrubs |
The Sopranos |
Veronica Mars |
| UEFA Euro 2008 |
Sonic X |
Teen Titans |
Teletubbies |
External links