TV4 (Swedish TV channel) facts for kids
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| Country | Sweden |
|---|---|
| Broadcast area | Sweden (also available in parts of Norway, Finland and Denmark) |
| Headquarters | Stockholm |
| Programming | |
| Picture format | 1080i HDTV (downscaled to 16:9 576i for the SDTV feed) |
| Ownership | |
| Owner | TV4 AB (Telia Company) |
| Sister channels | Sjuan, TV12, TV4 Film, TV4 Fakta, TV4 Guld, C More Sport |
| History | |
| Launched | 15 September 1990 |
| Availability | |
| Terrestrial | |
| DTT (Sweden) | Channel 4 |
| Boxer | Channel 64 (HD) |
TV4 (which means TV four) is a popular TV channel in Sweden. It's free to watch and is owned by TV4 AB, which is part of Telia Company. TV4 started broadcasting using satellite in 1990. Then, in 1992, it also began broadcasting on regular terrestrial television (using antennas).
In 1994, TV4 became the biggest TV channel in Sweden. It stayed that way for many years.
Contents
History of TV4
How TV4 Started
In 1984, two people named Ingemar Leijonborg and Gunnar Bergvall had an idea. They wanted to start a new TV channel in Sweden that would show commercials. They figured out how to pay for it and then left their old jobs to make their dream happen.
In 1985, an investment company helped them with money to start their company, Nordisk Television AB. They even got an office in Stockholm. Later, in 1987, new investors joined in, helping them get more money. They also started a special TV school to teach people how to make TV shows. Many talented people, especially from the public TV channel SVT, joined TV4.
Early Days and Challenges
The goal was to create a fresh, exciting TV channel. It would have strong news programs and its own TV series. They wanted it to become the biggest channel in Sweden. They rented a building and turned it into a TV station.
TV4 began broadcasting on September 15, 1990. The very first show had some technical problems. The next day, a newspaper even wrote, "Shut down TV4 – if it doesn't get better!" This motivated the team to work even harder. Some of their first drama shows also got tough reviews.
Popular Shows Begin
In 1991, two of TV4's most famous entertainment shows started. These were the Swedish version of Jeopardy! and the Saturday night bingo show Bingolotto. Bingolotto became super popular with viewers.
Becoming a Terrestrial Channel
In 1991, the Swedish government was looking for a commercial TV channel to broadcast on regular antennas. Many companies wanted this chance. TV4 was one of the main choices. To get the license, channels had to produce local shows and have many different owners.
After some discussions and changes, Nordisk Television (TV4) finally got the license on November 7, 1991. Test broadcasts began in December 1991 in many cities. Regular antenna broadcasts started on March 2, 1992. That same year, Nyhetsmorgon (News Morning) started. It was the first daily morning news show in Sweden.
Fun Shows of the 1990s
During the 1990s, TV4 showed many popular Friday night entertainment programs. These included Fångarna på fortet (like Fort Boyard), Sikta mot stjärnorna (like Soundmix Show), and Stadskampen.
They also had their own comedy shows like Rena Rama Rolf and En fyra för tre. Plus, there was the popular soap opera Tre kronor.
Moving to Digital TV
In 2004, TV4 started to change to digital-only broadcasting. This means they stopped sending signals that old TVs could pick up with an antenna. They first stopped their old satellite signal. Then, they slowly turned off their old antenna signals across Sweden. This change was finished by October 2007.
Since 2004, TV4 has also been broadcasting a Swedish version of the very popular singing competition Pop Idol.
New Ownership
In 2018, it was announced that Telia Company would buy the company that owned TV4. This deal was completed in December 2019, making Telia the new owner of TV4.
What's on TV4?
TV4 shows a wide variety of programs. You can watch news, sports, drama series, soap operas, and entertainment shows. They also have current affairs programs, comedies, movies, documentaries, and call-in shows.
News and Morning Shows
News is a very important part of TV4. They broadcast TV4Nyheterna (TV4 News) at 7 PM and 10 PM. In the mornings, they have Nyhetsmorgon (News Morning). On weekend mornings, before Nyhetsmorgon starts, they show programs for children in Swedish. After 11 PM, until Nyhetsmorgon begins, they show reruns and some Swedish and English TV series.
Daytime and Evening Programs
On weekdays, after Nyhetsmorgon, you can watch Efter tio (After Ten). This is followed by English-speaking TV series until the 7 PM news. On weekend afternoons, there are often reruns and sports programs. In the evenings, main Swedish and English TV shows are broadcast until the 10 PM news.
Friday nights have featured family entertainment at 8 PM since the early 1990s. Bingolotto used to be on Saturday evenings from 1991 to 2004. Then TV4 moved Bingolotto to Sundays and started showing movies on Saturdays instead. Later, other entertainment shows came to Saturday nights. On Sunday evenings, Swedish-made TV programs are shown until 9 PM, when a movie is usually shown.
Foreign Programs and Subtitles
The foreign programs on TV4 are mostly from the UK and USA. All foreign shows, and even parts of local shows that have foreign languages (like news interviews), have subtitles in Swedish. TV4 also has special programs that do investigative journalism, like Kalla fakta ("Cold Facts").
Regional TV4 Stations
TV4 also has many local TV stations across Sweden. These stations show local news and programs for their specific areas. When these local stations first started, they were owned by both local investors and the TV4 Group. There are currently sixteen local TV4 stations.
Over time, the TV4 Group bought out many of these local stations. By 2001, they owned fifteen of them. These stations were later combined into one company called TV4 Sverige AB.
As of 2008, these are some of the local TV4 stations:
- TV4 Värmland (Värmland)
- TV4 Väst ("West")
- TV4 Göteborg (Gothenburg)
- TV4 Halland (Halland)
- TV4 Öresund (The Sound)
- TV4 Sydost ("Southeast")
- TV4 Jönköping (Jönköping)
- TV4 Skaraborg (Skaraborg County)
- TV4 Öst ("East")
- TV4 Stockholm (Stockholm)
- TV4 Mälardalen (Mälaren Valley)
- TV4 Uppland (Uppland)
- TV4 Gävle Dalarna (Gävle and Dalarna)
- TV4 Mitt ("Central")
- TV4 Västerbotten (West Bothnia)
- TV4 Norrbotten (North Bothnia)
TV4 Play and C More
TV4 Play is TV4's online service where you can watch shows whenever you want. You can find it at www.tv4play.se. Shows on TV4 Play usually have commercials.
If you don't want to see ads, you can subscribe to C More. C More is a paid service that lets you watch the same shows without commercials. It also lets you watch TV4 and its sister channels live online.
TV Rules and Advertising
Because TV4 broadcasts from Sweden, it has to follow stricter rules about advertising than some other channels. At first, TV4 was not allowed to have commercial breaks during shows. Ads had to be shown only between programs.
To get around this, TV4 created short "Inför" programs. These were mini-versions of TV4 shows that were placed in the middle of other programs. For example, a show might be split into two parts, and in between, they would show "Inför Bingolotto." This allowed TV4 to show ads in the breaks around these "Inför" segments.
Later, in 2002, a new law came into effect. This law allowed TV4 to interrupt its programs for advertising, but not as much as some other channels. The law also limited the total amount of advertising to ten percent of the programming time.
TV4 Personalities
Here are some well-known people who have worked at TV4:
- Adam Alsing
- Agneta Sjödin
- Bengt Magnusson
- David Hellenius
- Jessica Almenäs
- Linda Isacsson
- Martin Timell
- Peter Eng
- Peter Jihde
- Yvonne Ryding
See also
In Spanish: TV4 (Suecia) para niños
