National Geographic Channel (Scandinavia)

National Geographic Channel Scandinavia
Launched	September 1997
Owned by	National Geographic Society Fox International Channels (News Corporation)
Audience share	0.2% (2008 in Sweden, [1])
Broadcast area	Scandinavia
Website	ngcsverige.com natgeochannel.dk ngcnorge.com
Availability
Terrestrial
Boxer	Planned
RiksTV	Channel 17
Televarpið
Satellite
Canal Digital
Viasat
Cable
YouSee
Com Hem
Tele2Vision
Canal Digital
Get
Telia Stofa
IPTV
Telia Digital-tv	Channel 25
Dansk Bredbånd

National Geographic Channel Scandinavia is a television channel broadcasting documentaries and related programmes to the Nordic countries. It is owned by the NGC-UK Partnership, which was in the first ten years of its existence, owned by the National Geographic Society and British Sky Broadcasting. In December 2006, Sky's parent company News Corporation, acquired 25 percent of the company. This meant that BSkyB owned half company, while National Geographic Television and News Corp held 25 percent share each.^[2] In December 2007, BSkyB sold its stake in the partnership to the Fox Entertainment Group.^[3][4]

The National Geographic Channel was launched in Scandinavia in September 1997 when BSkyB launched the Sky News & Documentaries channel, carrying National Geographic between 8 p.m. and 2 p.m. (CET) with The Computer Channel between 6 and 8 p.m. and Sky News the remaining time. The broadcasting hours has since then been extended and as of 2006 the channel is broadcasting from noon to 6 a.m., showing CNBC Nordic in the morning.

Programmes and continuity has English audio, with subtitles in Swedish, Finnish, Danish and Norwegian. Advertising has sound in different languages.

The channel is carried on most digital cable networks in the region, including TDC Kabel TV and Com Hem. Initially it was only available on satellite from Canal Digital, but it launched on the Viasat satellite platform on August 15, 2006.

In the digital terrestrial networks the channel has been available from the launch of the RiksTV platform in September 2007. In March 2008, the channel received a license to broadcast terrestrially in Sweden, but its launch has been postponed. It is also available terrestrially on the Faroe Islands. The channel is not available in the Finnish terrestrial network.

The sister channel Adventure One had moderate carriage for some time in Scandinavia. Adventure One was replaced by Nat Geo Wild in some cable networks in 2007. On February 24, 2009, Nat Geo Wild was launched on the Viasat satellite platform.^[5] It had then already launched on the Swedish Com Hem network on January 8, 2009.^[6]

The National Geographic Channel HD was launched into the Nordic region on the Canal Digital platform on April 1, 2007. In January 2008, the HD channel was launched on the Viasat platform.^[7] It came to Com Hem in Sweden on May 23, 2008.^[8]

On May 13, 2009 special feeds of the channel for the Danish and Norwegian markets were launched.^[9][10]

References

1. ^ Årsrapport 2008. Mediamätning i Skandinavien. http://mms.se/_dokument/rapporter/ar/%C3%85rsrapport%202008.pdf 
2. ^ News Corp · 10-Q · For 12/31/06
3. ^ British Sky Broadcasting Group PLC · 6-K · For 2/6/08
4. ^ Press Release - British Sky Broad. - Interim Results, RNS Number:3830N, British Sky Broadcasting Group PLC, 06 February 2008
5. ^ "Viasat Sänder Nat Geo Wild" (Press release). Viasat. February 5, 2009. http://www.viasat.se/node/423. 
6. ^ "Ny naturkanal: Nat Geo Wild" (Press release). Com Hem. January 8, 2009. http://www.comhem.se/appmanager/portal/comhem?_nfpb=true&_pageLabel=nyheter&newsPath=__BEA%20Repository__news__news_090108.html. 
7. ^ "Viasat lanserar HDTV och två HDTV-kanaler" (Press release). Viasat. January 15, 2008. http://www.viasat.se/node/399. 
8. ^ "Com Hem lanserar Eurosport HD och National Geographic Channel HD" (Press release). Com Hem. Mat 23, 2008. http://www.comhem.se/press/080523_hdkanaler.pdf. 
9. ^ National Geographic Channel – Change of transponder - Denmark
10. ^ National Geographic Channel – Change of transponder - Norway