Television in Finland

Television was introduced in Finland in 1957. Color television started in 1969. Prior to 1986, Yle monopolized the Finnish television. All terrestrial analogue stations stopped broadcasting on 1 September 2007 after introducing digital television; cable providers were allowed to continue analog broadcasting in their networks until 1 March 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.

Digital terrestrial

Digital terrestrial television was launched on 21 August 2001. The analogue networks continued its broadcasts alongside the digital ones until 1 September 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 channels from Sweden.

On the digital platform, subtitling isn't a part of the video stream in Yle's programming, 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 31 December 2007 and was replaced by Yle TV1+, a simulcast of TV1 with subtitles included in the video stream. TV1+ was closed on 4 August 2008 due to its low viewing share.[1]

Cable

Analogue cable television were switched off in Finland on 1 March 2008, but digital cable television is widespread all over the country and its infrastructure used for cable internet services.

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 also started with only a small amount of programming made in native HD, while most of the feed is upscaled from the SD feed.

Satellite

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.

Other technologies

After test period during 2005-2006, commercial mobile pay television service based on the DVB-H standard started simultaneously with the digital switchover in September 2007. Around at the time were Yle, MTV3, Nelonen and The Voice TV, which also broadcast extra feeds and interactive content to mobile users. The DVB-H technology was quietly killed off in the beginning of 2012.

Most major cablecos are offering digital television via ADSL and 3G/4G LTE nowadays, but Maxivision has been the only IPTV operator in the country since its inception.

List of channels

All Yle channels are broadcast free-to-air and so are a few commercial ones including MTV3, Nelonen, Sub, Jim, TV5, FOX and Kutonen. Yle channels are state owned and are funded by a ring fenced so-called "Yle tax".

Most of the channels are the same throughout mainland Finland. In Ostrobothnia and the Åland islands there is an extra multiplex available which provides encrypted channels from Sweden, along with respective local stations,[2] and of course due to overlapping signals, Russian, Swedish, Norwegian and Estonian stations are able to be seen near the border areas and vice versa.

DVB-T Channels

No. Channel Name Free-to-air Description
1. Yle TV1 Yes documentaries, news, politics, satire, series, films
2. Yle TV2 Yes news, sport, entertainment, series, films, children's programming
3. MTV3 Yes films, series, sports, news
4. Nelonen Yes films, series, sports, news
5. Yle Fem Yes programming by the Swedish department of Yle and SVT World's, news, series, films, documentaries
6. Sub Yes imported series, films, reality, chat shows
7. Yle Teema Yes culture, science, education, arts, documentaries, films
8. Liv Yes women's programmes, lifestyle programmes, films, series, documentaries
9. Jim Yes men's programmes, reality, documentaries
10. TV5 Yes entertainment, films, series, documentaries
11. Kutonen Yes men's programmes, music, films, series, documentaries
12. FOX Yes series, films, documentaries
13. AVA Yes women's programmes, lifestyle programmes, films, series, documentaries
14. Hero Yes imported series and films
16. Frii Yes women's programmes, lifestyle programmes, films, documentaries
17. Harju & Pöntinen Yes Schlager music
18. Estradi Yes short-term broadcasts
36. AlfaTV Yes programmes for minorities, religious programmes (20:00 - 22:30 hrs. only, full-time on DVB-T2 channel 15)
40. MTV Max No sports, outdoors, documentaries, programming for men
42. MTV Leffa No films (20:00 - 06:00 hrs. only)
43. MTV Juniori No children's programming
44. Discovery Channel No documentaries, science
45. Eurosport No sports, teleshopping
46. MTV Nordic No entertainment, music videos (13:00 - 07:00 hrs. only)
47. Nelonen Pro 1 No sports
48. Nelonen Pro 2 No sports
49. Nelonen Prime No films, series (19:00 - 06:00 hrs. only, full-time on DVB-T2 channel 61)
50. Nelonen Nappula No children's programming
51. Nelonen Maailma No nature, science, documentaries
52. Disney Channel No children's programming (07:00 - 13:00 hrs. only)
53. C More FirstNo films
54. C More Series No series, films
55. MTV Sport 1 No sports
58. Nick Jr. No children's programming
68. 0700 11111 deitti Yes adult entertainment
69. Digiviihde.fi No adult entertainment

Upcoming DVB-T channels

Channel Name Free-to-air Description Reference

DVB-T2 channels

No. Channel Name Free-to-air Description HDFrequency
15. AlfaTV Yes programmes for minorities, religious programmes No UHF
19. HD Life Yes entertainment, lifestyle Yes UHF
20. TV Etusivu Yes information channel No UHF
21. Yle TV1 HD Yes High-definition simulcast of Yle TV1 Yes VHF
22. Yle TV2 HD Yes High-definition simulcast of Yle TV2 Yes VHF
23. MTV3 HD No High-definition simulcast of MTV3 Yes VHF
25. Yle Fem HD Yes High-definition simulcast of Yle Fem Yes VHF
27. Yle Teema HD Yes High-definition simulcast of Yle Teema Yes VHF
31. Yle TV1 HD Yes High-definition simulcast of Yle TV1 Yes UHF
32. Yle TV2 HD Yes High-definition simulcast of Yle TV2 Yes UHF
35. Yle Fem HD Yes High-definition simulcast of Yle Fem Yes UHF
38. AdultTV.fi Yes adult entertainment Yes UHF
39. Estradi HD Yes High-definition simulcast of Estradi Yes UHF
59. Nelonen Pro 1 HD No High-definition simulcast of Nelonen Pro 1 Yes VHF
60. Nelonen Pro 2 HD No High-definition simulcast of Nelonen Pro 2 Yes VHF
61. Nelonen Prime No films, series (full-time) No VHF
62. Nelonen Nappula No children's programming No VHF
63. Nelonen Maailma No nature, science, documentaries No VHF
64. Viasat Sport No sports No UHF
65. Viasat Hockey No ice hockey No UHF
66. Viasat Hockey FinlandNo ice hockey No UHF
67. Viasat Golf No golf No UHF
80. Investigation DiscoveryNo documentaries, science No VHF
83. Eurosport 2 No sports No VHF
84. National GeographicNo nature, history, documentaries NoUHF
85. Animal Planet No nature, documentaries No VHF
86. Showtime No films, series No VHF
88. Silver No world cinema, independent films No VHF
89. Disney Junior No children's programming No VHF
90. Disney XD No children's programming No VHF
92. MTV Max HD No High-definition simulcast of MTV Max Yes VHF
93. MTV Fakta No science, documentaries No UHF
94. C More Hits No films No UHF
95. C More First HD No High-definition simulcast of C More First Yes VHF
96. MTV Sport 1 HDNo High-definition simulcast of MTV Sport 1 Yes VHF
97. MTV Sport 2No sports No UHF
98. MTV Sport 2 HDNo High-definition simulcast of MTV Sport 2 Yes VHF
101. Nelonen Pro 1 HD No High-definition simulcast of Nelonen Pro 1 Yes VHF
102. Nelonen Pro 2 HD No High-definition simulcast of Nelonen Pro 2 Yes VHF
103. Nelonen Pro 3 No Broadcasts from the Finnish Elite League No VHF
104. Nelonen Pro 4 No Broadcasts from the Finnish Elite League No VHF
105. Nelonen Pro 5 No Broadcasts from the Finnish Elite League No VHF
106. Nelonen Pro 6 No Broadcasts from the Finnish Elite League No VHF
107. Nelonen Pro 7 No Broadcasts from the Finnish Elite League No VHF
108. Nelonen Pro 8 No Broadcasts from the Finnish Elite League No VHF
111. Viasat NHL Xtra 1 No Broadcasts from the NHL No VHF
112. Viasat NHL Xtra 2 No Broadcasts from the NHL No VHF
113. Viasat NHL Xtra 3 No Broadcasts from the NHL No VHF
114. Viasat NHL Xtra 4 No Broadcasts from the NHL No VHF
115. Viasat NHL Xtra 5 No Broadcasts from the NHL No VHF
116. Viasat NHL Xtra 6 No Broadcasts from the NHL No VHF
117. Viasat NHL Xtra 7 No Broadcasts from the NHL No VHF
120. Viasat Sport Xtra No sports No UHF
121. Viasat Hockey Finland HD No High-definition simulcast of Viasat Hockey Finland Yes VHF
123. Viasat Golf HD No High-definition simulcast of Viasat Golf Yes VHF
124. Viasat Film Family HD No High-definition simulcast of Viasat Film Family Yes VHF
125. Viasat Film No films No UHF
126. Viasat History No history No UHF

Upcoming DVB-T2 channels

Channel Name Free-to-air Description HDFrequencyReference

Defunct stations

Tesvisio (1956–1965) Finland's first television station. Tesvisio was bought by Yle in 1964. The channel formed Yle TV2 in 1965 together with its sister station Tamvisio.
Tamvisio (1957–1965) Tesvisio's sister channel in Tampere area. The channel formed Yle TV2 in 1965 together with its sister station Tesvisio.
MTV (1957–1992) The predecessor of MTV3. Rented air time from Yle and Kolmoskanava.
Kolmoskanava (1986–1992) The predecessor of MTV3 owned by Yle, MTV and Nokia and also the first nationwide commercial television station.
PTV (1989–1997) The predecessor of Nelonen. By far the only consortium of local television stations with networked programming in Finland. Broadcast on cable and for the last few months also on analogue terrestrial.
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 its parent company filed for bankruptcy.
MTV3+ (2002–2006) Additional programming, interactive entertainment. Replaced by MTV3 Max in November 2006.
Nelonen Plus (2003–2007) Additional programming, interactive entertainment. Replaced by Jim in February 2007.
YLE24 (2001–2007) The 24-hour news channel of Yle, also Finland's first DTT channel. Simulcasted BBC News 24, Voice of America and Euronews outside broadcast hours. Discontinued in April 2007, replaced by YLE Extra. Euronews, VOA and BBC News bulletins have since moved to a graveyard slot on TV1.
YLE Extra (2007) Live events and youth entertainment channel of Yle. Television counterpart of the radio station YleX, which it often simulcasted outside normal broadcasting hours. Also simulcasted BBC Three without subtitles when premiering new British comedy shows. Discontinued in December 2007, replaced by YLE TV1+.
YLE TV1+ (2008) A simulcast of TV1 with no DVB subtitles, but having them burnt into the video stream. Discontinued in August 2008 to give additional space to broadcast the Beijing Olympics.
Diggari (2004–2009) Cable channel broadcasting cheap entertainment, mobile games, limited amounts of local programming and horse racing. Also worked as a barker channel for pay-TV-channels provided by cableco Finnet, which also owned Diggari. Focused operating outside the Helsinki area. Had an extra channel broadcasting nothing but mobile games for two years.
Urheilukanava (2001–2010) Sports channel, replaced by Nelonen Sport in February 2010 and further by Nelonen Pro 2 in January 2011.
Urheilu+kanava (2007–2010) Pay sports channel complementing Urheilukanava, replaced by Nelonen Sport Pro in February 2010 and further by Nelonen Pro 1 in January 2011.
klubi.tv (2007–2011) Music channel. Broadcast during the night. Discontinued in January 2011
SuomiTV (2009–2012) General entertainment channel with Christian content, replaced by FOX in April 2012.
MTV3 Scifi (2008–2012) Discontinued in August 2012
MTV Sarja (2008–2014) Discontinued in March 2014
MTV Komedia (2010–2014) Discontinued in March 2014
MTV Fakta XL (2012–2014) Discontinued in March 2014
URHOtv (2009–2014) Sports channel. Discontinued in April 2014 due to financial problems.

Viewing shares

Channels 1988
[3]		 1989
[3]		 1990
[3]		 1991
[3]		 1994
[4]		 1995
[5]		 1996
[5][6]		 1997
[5][6]		 1998
[5][7]		 1999
[5][8]		 2000
[5][9]		 2001
[5][10]		 2002
[5][11]		 2003
[5][12]		 2004
[5][13]		 2005
[5][13]		 2006
[14]		 2007
[15]		 2008
[16]		 2009
[17]		 2010
[18]		 2011
[19]		 2012
[20] 		2013
[21] 		2014
[22]
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 23.3 24.8 26.0 26.4
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 16.9 13.2 11.9 13.3
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 21.8 20.0 19.0 17.4
Nelonen[nb 1] 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 9.2 9.0 8.8 8.1
Yle Fem[nb 2] 2 2 2 2 2 0.2 0.7 1.6 1.8 1.6 1.6 1.7 1.5 1.9
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 6.1 5.7 5.1 5.1
Yle Teema 0.6 1.3 2.2 2.6 2.5 2.6 2.6 2.6 2.5
Liv 0.7 1.9 2.3 2.3 2.7 2.8
Jim[nb 4] 0.1 1.2 2.6 2.6 2.9 3.1 3.3 3.2 3.4
TV5[nb 5] 0.8 1.5 2.0 2.6 3.3 3.6 3.5
Kutonen[nb 5] 0.4 0.7 0.8 1.5 2.0 0.4 0.8 1.2 1.2
FOX[nb 6] 0.7 0.5 2.2 3.3 3.6
AVA[nb 7] 0.1 0.1 1.5 1.9 1.9
MTV Total Pay TV 0.2 1.3 2.4 2.5 2.2 2.0 3.5 3.7 3.4
Discovery Channel 0.5 0.6 0.7 0.6 0.5 0.7 0.6 0.4
Music TV 1 1 1 1 0.9 0.8 0.7 0.7 0.5 0.5 0.5 0.4 0.4
Nelonen Pay TV 0.1 0.2 0.3 0.4 0.5 0.5 0.6 0.7
Hero 0.1

Notes

  1. ↑ 1996 - May 1997 PTV4
  2. ↑ 1994 - August 2006 YLE FST. FST's output was included in the programming of YLE's two main television channels, YLE TV1 and YLE TV2. August 2006-March 2012 YLE FST5
  3. ↑ 2000 - August 2001 TVTV!. August 2001 - January 2008 Subtv
  4. ↑ 2006 - February 2007 Nelonen Plus
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 The Voice and TV5 operated in same channel from September 2008 to April 2011. 2006 - August 2012 The Voice
  6. ↑ 2009 - April 2012 SuomiTV.
  7. ↑ 2008 - January 2011 MTV3 AVA.

Combined viewing shares

Combined viewing shares for all channels from different television companies in 2014.

Company Share
Yleisradio 44.1%
MTV Oy 27.9%
Nelonen Media 15.1%
SBS Discovery Media 5.2%
Fox International Channels 3.6%
Viacom International Media Networks 0.4%
Others 3.8%

References

  1. ↑ "Ylen TV1+ - palvelu päättyy elokuussa" [Yle's TV1+ - service ends in August] (in Finnish). Digita Oy. 2008-07-11. Retrieved 23 July 2011.
  2. ↑ "SveaTV-kanalplatser". VLT. Retrieved 2007-12-22.
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 "Television:Television: channel shares 1999 - 2009 (Excel)". Tilastokeskus. 15 December 2010. Retrieved 25 August 2011. columns: B, C, D, E
  4. ↑ "Television: Television: channel shares 1994 - 2004 (Excel)". Tilastokeskus. 12 October 2005. Retrieved 25 August 2011.
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 5.3 5.4 5.5 5.6 5.7 5.8 5.9 5.10 "Television: Television: channel shares 1995 - 2005 (Excel)". Tilastokeskus. 9 November 2006. Retrieved 25 August 2011.
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 "Alma Media, Aamulehti Group, MTV Group - Annual Report 1997" (PDF). Alma Media, Aamulehti Group, MTV Group. 1998. p. 21. Retrieved 25 August 2011.
  7. ↑ "Alma Media - Annual Report 1998" (PDF). Alma Media. 1999. pp. 20–21. Retrieved 25 August 2011.
  8. ↑ "TV:n katseluosuudet minuuteista" (in Finnish). Archive.org: Finnpanel. 8 March 2000. Archived from the original on 9 March 2001. Retrieved 24 August 2011.
  9. ↑ "Alma Media - Annual Report 2000" (PDF). Alma Media. 2001. p. 29. Retrieved 25 August 2011.
  10. ↑ "Alma Media - Annual Report 2001" (PDF). Alma Media. 2002. p. 22.
  11. ↑ "YLE-kertomukset 2002" (in Finnish). Yleisradio. 2003. Retrieved 24 August 2011.
  12. ↑ "YLE-kertomukset 2003" (in Finnish). Yleisradio. 2004. Retrieved 24 August 2011.
  13. ↑ 13.0 13.1 "Finnpanel - TV:n katseluosuudet minuuteista" (in Finnish). Archive.org: Finnpanel. 20 January 2006. Archived from the original on 28 May 2006. Retrieved 24 August 2011.
  14. ↑
  15. ↑
  16. ↑
  17. ↑
  18. ↑
  19. ↑
  20. ↑ "Results From The TV Audience Measurement". Finnpanel. Retrieved 28 February 2013.
  21. ↑ "Results From The TV Audience Measurement". Finnpanel. Retrieved 6 May 2014.
  22. ↑

External links