Kringkastingsselskapet A/S
("The Broadcasting Company") was
Norway
's first
radio broadcasting service
and operated out of
Oslo
from 1925 until 1933, when it was taken over by the
Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation
(NRK).
History
[
edit
]
The Norwegian Telegraphy Administration started examining the question of radio broadcasting in 1922. After consulting other countries, it recommended that the government own and operate the transmission infrastructure. In 1923 Norway abolished its earlier ban on listening to foreign radio stations without a permit. At the same time, the obtaining of a licence to transmit was made a legal requirement.
[1]
Several companies had already banded together in 1922 with a view to obtaining permission to broadcast. The financing of their broadcasting operations was to be based upon a combination of the revenues obtained from on-air advertising and the licence fees payable by those purchasing and owning a radio set. In a bid to avoid some of the problems that had arisen in the United States, the administration tried to restrict the extent to which the manufacturers of radio sets could also own broadcasting stations.
[2]
Kringkastingsselskapet's offices and first transmitter
Kringkastingsselskapet was granted the first permit in 1924. It had more than 2000 shareholders, the largest of whom were the
Marconi Company
,
Telefunken
, and
Western Electric
. The company had a permit to establish a transmitter in Oslo with a range of 150 kilometers (93 mi). Although owned by Kringkastingsselskapet, this was operated by the Telegraphy Administration. An additional five transmitters were built in
Eastern Norway
during the 1920s.
[3]
These included
Rjukan
in 1925,
Notodden
and
Porsgrunn
in 1926, and
Hamar
and
Fredrikstad
in 1927.
[4]
Norway was allocated three
broadcasting
frequencies in the Geneva Plan which became effective in November 1926.
[5]
Further radio stations were established in
Bergen
in 1925,
Tromsø
in 1926, and
Alesund
in 1927.
[3]
Kringkastingselskapet received permissions to operate in most of the country from 1928. A scandal hit the broadcasting company in 1929, in which a new transmitter at
Lambertseter
in Oslo had too little effect, and secondly following the discovery of management was enriching themselves. The former was caused by the Telegraphy Administration's not fully understanding the effects of radio transmission during design, and under-dimensioning the transmitter. The issue was resolved when the manufacturer, Telefunken, took the cost of converting it from
medium wave
to
shortwave
.
[6]
New transmitters were installed in
Kristiansand
,
Stavanger
,
Trondheim
in 1930,
Bodø
in 1931,
Narvik
in 1934 and
Vigra
in 1935.
[4]
Lambertseter Transmitter in 1931
The scandal resulted in a proposal for a new organization of the broadcasting. At first
Minister of Trade and Industry
Lars Oftedal
proposed a model whereby the transmission would be the responsibility of the Telegraphy Administration, and a new, private program company would be established, owned by the Oslo newspapers. This was opposed by Minister of Education and Church Affairs
Sigvald Hasund
did not want the sensation-oriented capital press from controlling the radio and wanted the government to have control.
Mowinckel's Second Cabinet
's successor in 1931,
Kolstad's Cabinet
, supported Hasund's line and proposed in 1932 that the government take responsibility for content. By the time the issue was being voted over by
Parliament
,
Mowinckel's Third Cabinet
was in place, proposing that the budgetary responsibility lie with the broadcasting company, not the Telegraphy Administration.
[7]
The Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation was established in 1933 as a government-owned, national broadcaster.
[8]
References
[
edit
]
Bibliography
- Andersen, Richard; Bernstein, Dagfinn (1999).
Kringkastingens tekniske historie
(in Norwegian). Oslo: Norsk rikskringkasting.
ISBN
82-7118-260-9
.
- Rinde, Harald (2005).
Norsk telekommunikasjonshistorie: Et telesystem tar form 1855?1920
(in Norwegian). Oslo: Gyldendal.
ISBN
82-05-334439
.