Digital terrestrial television in Finland
Encyclopedia
Digital terrestrial television in Finland 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.
All YLE channels are broadcast free-to-air, so are a few commercial ones including MTV3
, Nelonen
, Subtv, JIM
, Nelonen Sport and The Voice TV
.
There are also several pay channels. These are sold only by PlusTV
.
), YLE's cultural and educational channel (YLE Plus
), YLE's Swedish channel (FST-D), a regional station (CityTV
), a sports channel (Nelonen Sport), a film channel from Helsinki Media (Elokuvakanava), a "school channel" from WSOY (Alfa+), a lifestyle channel (Wellnet) and Canal+
.
The YLE channels, MTV3, Nelonen and Urheilukanava (later renamed Nelonen Sport) were on board from the start. WSOY eventually decided to withdraw from the project without launching their channel, as did Canal+ and Elokuvakanava. CityTV eventually turned into the entertainment channel SubTV.
In 2003, MTV Oy started en "extra" channels, MTV3+, which offered some extra sports content. Nelonen also had an extra channel called Nelonen Plus. TV Viisi
started in March 2004.
Canal Digital launched pay television with three Canal+ channels in March 2004. A fourth Canal+ channel, Canal+ Sport
was added in November. The Disney Channel
was added in April 2006 and KinoTV, Eurosport, Discovery, MTV and Nickelodeon in September 2007. In September 2008 the rival operator PlusTV got exclusive rights to all, but CANAL+ channels and Canal Digital was left with them only. The last move in Canal Digital's antenna operations in Finland took place on September 16, 2009, when PlusTV got exclusive rights to CANAL+ channels too. Nowadays Canal Digital operates only via satellite.
PlusTV
was launched in November 2006, originally only broadcasting MTV3 Max
and Subtv Juniori. They added Subtv Leffa in April and Urheilu+kanava
in June 2007.
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 replaced by SVT Europa in September 2008.
PlusTV took over Canal Digital's basic channel package ParempiTV on October 1, 2008. This meant that subscriptions for all pay channels were handled by PlusTV, with the exception of the Canal+ channels, which were still sold by Canal Digital.
The pornographic channel Canal 69 ended its broadcasts in August 2009. On September 10, 2009, the news pay sports channel URHOtv starts broadcasting.
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
Yleisradio
The Finnish Broadcasting Company , abbreviated to YLE , is Finland's national broadcasting company, founded in 1926. YLE is a public-broadcasting organization which shares many of its characteristics with its British counterpart, the BBC, on which it was largely modelled...
and MUX B was shared between the two commercial broadcasters: MTV3
MTV3
MTV3 is a Finnish commercial television station owned by Bonnier. It had the biggest audience share of all Finnish TV channels until Finnish Broadcasting Company’s YLE1 took the lead. The letters MTV stand for Mainos-TV , due to the channel getting its revenue from running commercials...
and Nelonen
Nelonen
Nelonen is a Finnish commercial TV channel. It started out as Helsinki's local television channel PTV in 1989 on the HTV cable network, which name was changed first to PTV4 and then to Nelonen. It started on June 1, 1997. Nelonen, in Finnish, means the glyph of the number four. The channel is...
. MUX C contained channels of various other broadcasters. After the analogue closedown, a fourth multiplex named MUX E was launched.
All YLE channels are broadcast free-to-air, so are a few commercial ones including MTV3
MTV3
MTV3 is a Finnish commercial television station owned by Bonnier. It had the biggest audience share of all Finnish TV channels until Finnish Broadcasting Company’s YLE1 took the lead. The letters MTV stand for Mainos-TV , due to the channel getting its revenue from running commercials...
, Nelonen
Nelonen
Nelonen is a Finnish commercial TV channel. It started out as Helsinki's local television channel PTV in 1989 on the HTV cable network, which name was changed first to PTV4 and then to Nelonen. It started on June 1, 1997. Nelonen, in Finnish, means the glyph of the number four. The channel is...
, Subtv, JIM
JIM
JIM is a Finnish national television channel that replaced Nelonen Plus on February 26, 2007....
, Nelonen Sport and The Voice TV
The Voice TV Finland
The Voice is a Finnish music channel that replaced the VIISI television channel in 2004. The Voice has also a closely related radio station which started in the beginning of 2007...
.
There are also several pay channels. These are sold only by PlusTV
PlusTV
PlusTV is a Finnish digital terrestrial television distributor. It is one of two pay television distributors in the Finnish terrestrial network, the other being Canal Digital....
.
History
The official launch took place on August 21, 2001. Under the original plans the channel's available would be, other than the four analogue ones: YLE's news channel (YLE24YLE24
YLE24 was a Finnish language TV channel broadcast by YLE. It was active from 2001 to 2007, although the unit was founded in 2000....
), YLE's cultural and educational channel (YLE Plus
YLE Teema
YLE Teema is a Finnish television channel owned and operated by Finnish broadcasting corporation Yleisradio. The channel is dedicated to culture, sciences and learning. The channel is known for its "Theme Saturdays" which typically consist of documentaries and classic international films.YLE Teema...
), YLE's Swedish channel (FST-D), a regional station (CityTV
Citytv
Citytv is a Canadian English language television system owned and operated by Rogers Communications under its Rogers Broadcasting Ltd. division...
), a sports channel (Nelonen Sport), a film channel from Helsinki Media (Elokuvakanava), a "school channel" from WSOY (Alfa+), a lifestyle channel (Wellnet) and Canal+
C More Entertainment
C More Entertainment is a premium television company, operating under the banner CANAL+, that targets the Nordic Countries and with one separate channel in Sweden ....
.
The YLE channels, MTV3, Nelonen and Urheilukanava (later renamed Nelonen Sport) were on board from the start. WSOY eventually decided to withdraw from the project without launching their channel, as did Canal+ and Elokuvakanava. CityTV eventually turned into the entertainment channel SubTV.
In 2003, MTV Oy started en "extra" channels, MTV3+, which offered some extra sports content. Nelonen also had an extra channel called Nelonen Plus. TV Viisi
TV Viisi
TV5 is a Finnish television channel owned and operated by SBS Finland. The channel launched on March 2004 but it was replaced by The Voice TV Finland in November 2004. It started operating again in September 2008 on the same channel as The Voice. It transmitted every day from 6 PM until 1 PM...
started in March 2004.
Canal Digital launched pay television with three Canal+ channels in March 2004. A fourth Canal+ channel, Canal+ Sport
Canal+ Sport 1 (Scandinavia)
Canal+ Sport 1 is the name of four Scandinavian sports channels owned by C More Entertainment. They launched as the pan-Nordic Canal+ Sport on May 1, 2004 when C More introduced themed channels for movies and sports. On September 1, 2005, most sports broadcasts were moved to Canal+ Sport and...
was added in November. The Disney Channel
Disney Channel Scandinavia
For the Disney Channel in other countries, see Disney Channel . For the original Disney Channel, see Disney Channel.Disney Channel Scandinavia is an edition of The Walt Disney Company-owned Disney Channel broadcasting to the Nordic countries and Baltic states...
was added in April 2006 and KinoTV, Eurosport, Discovery, MTV and Nickelodeon in September 2007. In September 2008 the rival operator PlusTV got exclusive rights to all, but CANAL+ channels and Canal Digital was left with them only. The last move in Canal Digital's antenna operations in Finland took place on September 16, 2009, when PlusTV got exclusive rights to CANAL+ channels too. Nowadays Canal Digital operates only via satellite.
PlusTV
PlusTV
PlusTV is a Finnish digital terrestrial television distributor. It is one of two pay television distributors in the Finnish terrestrial network, the other being Canal Digital....
was launched in November 2006, originally only broadcasting MTV3 Max
MTV3 MAX
MTV3 MAX is a Finnish pay television channel owned and operated by MTV3. The channel started broadcasting in November 2006 and was originally dedicated to F1 coverage.- MTV3+ :...
and Subtv Juniori. They added Subtv Leffa in April and Urheilu+kanava
Urheilu+Kanava
Nelonen Pro 1 is a Finnish television channel owned and operated by Nelonen.The channel was launched in June 2007 as part of the PlusTV package. It broadcasts as an encrypted pay channel, as opposed to its parent channel, which is free-to-air. The channel was previously known as Urheilu+Kanava, but...
in June 2007.
Both packages got more channels with the launch of MUX E in September 2007: SVT Europa
SVT Europa
SVT World is an international television channel from the Swedish broadcaster Sveriges Television. The channel is available on satellite in Europe and much of Africa, Australia and Asia, terrestrially in the whole of Finland and IPTV in North America....
and MTV3 Fakta
MTV3 Fakta
MTV3 Fakta is a Finnish documentary channel owned and operated by MTV3. It started broadcasting in November 2006.- External links :*...
was added to PlusTV and KinoTV
KinoTV
KinoTV is a Finnish television channel broadcasting movies and series. It is owned and operated by Nelonen.- Series :This is a list of KinoTV's foreign series.*90210*Battlestar Galactica*Big Love*Californication*Cleaner*Cybil*The Cosby Show*Damages...
was added to Canal Digital, while Discovery Channel
Discovery Channel Finland
Discovery Channel Finland is a television channel targeting Finland owned by Discovery Networks. It has programming similar to its U.S. counterpart, the Discovery Channel....
, Eurosport
Eurosport
Eurosport is a pan-European television sport network operated by French broadcaster TF1 Group. The network of channels are available in 59 countries, in 20 different languages providing viewers with European and international sporting events...
, MTV Finland
MTV Finland
MTV Finland is a general entertainment channel broadcasting to the Finnish speaking market. The channel replaced MTV Nordic on September 18, 2005.-History:* MTV Finland launched in September 2005 along with MTV Sweden and MTV Norge...
and Nickelodeon
Nickelodeon Scandinavia
Nickelodeon Scandinavia is a children's channel broadcasting in Denmark, Norway and Finland. In June 2008, a separate channel for Sweden was launched. Nickelodeon Sweden replaced the pan-Nordic channel in all of Sweden...
were added to both packages.
September 2007 also saw the launch of the SveaTV package in Ostrobothnia
Ostrobothnia (region)
Ostrobothnia is a region of Finland. It is located in Western Finland. It borders the regions Central Ostrobothnia, Southern Ostrobothnia, and Satakunta and is one of the four regions making up the historical province of Ostrobothnia....
which broadcasts Swedish language
Swedish language
Swedish is a North Germanic language, spoken by approximately 10 million people, predominantly in Sweden and parts of Finland, especially along its coast and on the Åland islands. It is largely mutually intelligible with Norwegian and Danish...
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
YLE Extra
YLE Extra was a Finnish television channel owned and operated by YLE, the channel launched on 27 April 2007. It replaced YLE24. YLE Extra ceased broadcasting on 31 December 2007 and it was replaced by YLE TV1+, a temporary channel which broadcasts YLE TV1 with fixed subtitles....
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 replaced by SVT Europa in September 2008.
PlusTV took over Canal Digital's basic channel package ParempiTV on October 1, 2008. This meant that subscriptions for all pay channels were handled by PlusTV, with the exception of the Canal+ channels, which were still sold by Canal Digital.
The pornographic channel Canal 69 ended its broadcasts in August 2009. On September 10, 2009, the news pay sports channel URHOtv starts broadcasting.