DR (broadcaster)
 |
| Type | Public service broadcasting: radio network and television network |
|---|---|
| Country | |
| Availability | National |
| Owner | The State of Denmark |
Key people | Kenneth Plummer, Director General Lars Grarup, Media Director Lars Vesterløkke, D.o. Programmes David Hellemann, D.o. Economy |
Launch date | April 1, 1925 (radio launch) 1927 (radio broadcast) October 2, 1951 (television broadcast) |
Former names | Radioordningen (1925-1926) Statsradiofonien (1926-1959) Danmarks Radio (1959-1996) |
Official website | www.dr.dk |
DR (formerly known as Danmarks Radio and, before that, Statsradiofonien) is Denmark's national broadcasting corporation. Founded as a public service organization in 1925 (under the name of Radioordningen, changed to Statsradiofonien in 1926, and Danmarks Radio in 1959), DR is Denmark's oldest and largest electronic media enterprise.
DR is funded by the levying of a broadcast receiving licence fee, payable by all of those who own a radio or TV set in Denmark whether or not they use DR's services. As of January 2007 those with internet connections at or above 256kb/s downstream, or owning a mobile phone capable of receiving video over the internet, must also pay the fee regardless of actual use of the services.
DR was one of 23 founding broadcasting organisations of the European Broadcasting Union in 1950.
DR runs four nationwide FM radio stations, 14 Digital Audio Broadcast (DAB) stations and 13 additional web radio stations, plus two television channels and an extensive website, a version of which is accessible via mobile phone.
Radio
Analogue radio
- P1 - "Thought-provoking radio": factual programming, reports, discussion and debate on public affairs, society and the community, plus in-depth news. It is broadcast on FM, DAB and web radio.
- P2 - "Music and cultural radio": classical music, opera, jazz, radio drama, and coverage of other artistic performances and events. It is broadcast on FM and the web. The channel itself is not available on DAB, but it is associated with DR P2 Klassisk and DR P2 Plus which simulcast many of the P2 programmes.
- P3 - Hit radio, with popular entertainment shows and hourly three-minute news bulletins. P3 also covers major sporting events. It is broadcast on FM, DAB and web radio.
- P4 - DR's most popular radio channel: a "modern public service station" broadcast in 11 regional versions, mixing popular music with national and local news. P4 also provides a Traffic Message Channel service of travel news. It is broadcast on FM and web radio.
The regional P4 channels are:
- P4 Bornholm
- P4 Esbjerg
- P4 Fyn
- P4 København
- P4 Midt & Vest
- P4 Nordjylland
- P4 Nordvæstsjælland
- P4 Østjylland
- P4 Sjælland
- P4 Syd
- P4 Trekanten
DR also has a medium wave station, P5 Mellembølge, which simulcasts DR P3 between 04.49 and 00.29, except for 12.00-16.00 (12.00-18.00 at weekends) when it relays P4 København.
DAB stations
The first trials of Digital Audio Broadcasting were carried out in 1995.
In 2002 DR began broadcasting eight new DAB channels: pop station DR Boogie Skum, parliamentary channel DR Demokrati, jazz station DR Jazz, classical music station DR Klassisk, news station DR Nyheder, cultural station DR Plus, rock station DR Rock, and soft music station DR Soft. In 2003 DR Litteratur was added to the line-up and 2004 saw the launch of DR Sport and DR Event.
In December 2004 a second transmitter network was launched, broadcasting DR Gyldne Genhør (drama, comedy and popular music from the archives), DR Kanonkamelen (programmes for young children), DR Erhverv (economic and financial news), as well as digital versions of P1, P3 and P4 Danmark. DR Barracuda (programmes for older children) was added in 2005.
In August 2005 the commercial radio stations Sky Radio (now defunct) and Radio 100FM began broadcasting on the DAB network, reducing the space available for DR and obliging it to abandon three of its DAB channels: DR Erhverv, DR Event and DR P4 Danmark (a nationwide version of the regional channel).
On New Year's Day 2006 the popular music station DR Soft was closed down, but following protests it was soon brought back. Initially, it was intended it would remain on air until the launch of a new channel called DR X, but as Sky Radio had ceased broadcasting in November 2005, DR Soft and DR X were able to continue alongside each other.
December 2006 saw major changes to the line-up when the granting of exclusive use of one of the two DAB transmitter networks to the commercial stations meant that DR Gyldne Genhør, DR Kultur, DR Litteratur, DR Soft and DR Sport all had to close. They were replaced by DR P2 Plus, a resurrected DR P4 Danmark, and DR P4 Hit.
As of 2 May 2007 the line-up of DR stations available on DAB is:
- DR Barracuda – radio for 7- to 13-year-olds
- DR Boogieradio – entertainment and popular music for teenagers
- DR Jazz – jazz music
- DR Nyheder – continuous news updates
- DR Oline – (formerly DR Kanonkamelen) stories and music for children aged 3–7
- DR P1 (see above)
- DR P2 Klassisk – (formerly DR Klassisk) classical music
- DR P2 Plus – arts and literature
- DR P3 (see above)
- DR P4 Danmark
- DR P4 Hit
- DR Politik – (formerly DR Demokrati) live coverage of parliamentary sessions
- DR Rock – classic rock
- DR X
As part of a cost saving plan, DR X was closed in October 2007. It was replaced by DR Dansktop, which had previously broadcast solely on the Internet. Towards the end of 2007, DR closed down two other DAB channels: the cultural channel DR P2 Plus and the children's channel DR Barracuda. These were replace by two pop music channels: DR Coco and DR MGP. Meanwhile, DR P2 Klassisk and DR P4 Hit changed their names by dropping the reference to their analogue parent channels and becoming DR Klassisk and DR Hit.
Web radio
All of the above FM and DAB stations (except DR Politik and DR Nyheder) are streamed on the internet. In addition, DR also provides another 13 music channels available only via web radio. As of November 2007 these were:
- DR Allegro – popular classical music, film music, musicals, operetta
- DR Barometer – (formerly DR Electric) alt-rock and indie
- DR Country – country music
- DR Dansktop – popular music and schlagers (up-tempo oom-pah-pah)
- DR Electronica – electronica
- DR Evergreen
- DR Folk – folk music both Nordic and Anglo-American
- DR Hip Hop – (formerly DR Ghetto) hiphop from underground to mainstream
- DR Modern Rock
- DR R&B – R&B, soul
- DR Soft – pop
- DR Spillemand – Danish, Nordic, and Irish/Scottish/English folk music
- DR World – world music
Television
DR1
DR was Denmark's first television channel. Since the introduction of DR2 it has been known as DR1.
DR2
DR2 is the third national subscription-free TV channel in Denmark (it followed the establishment of TV 2 and its sister channel). It was known in its earliest years as den hemmelige kanal ("the secret channel") because it could not be seen nationwide at its launch — a situation much ridiculed by its competitors. Its early programme content was also fairly narrow. In recent times, however, it has become one of the strongest brands in Danish television and on several occasions gained more viewers than TV 3. DR2's traditional specialisms are cultural programmes, satirical comedy, in-depth news programmes, documentaries, and a weekly temalørdag (Theme Saturday) strand examining diverse aspects of one chosen subject in a series of linked programmes.
DR Update
Will soon be available on the digital broadcasting system, DVB-T.
Future channels of DR
In 2009 DR will launch at least one new channel, which is a mixed history. and child channel. Speculations say that HD-channels may be available in 2009-2010. DR will try to launch one new channel every year from 2009.
Web television
In June 2007, DR launched an Internet-based news channel called DR Update. DR also provides live streaming of DR1 and DR2, as well as on-demand streaming of many individual programmes, to internet users in Denmark.
DR news reporting
The Dansk Folkeparti, the main euronationalist[citation needed] political party, has long criticized DR's news for being unfavourable to them, attributing this partly to the political nature of appointments to the DR Board of Directors. In response, DR set up a "watchdog committee" intended to detect and report upon any anti-party bias.
Relocation of DR and funding crisis
DR is in the process of moving all of its departments, including radio, TV and the various orchestras to a brand new complex, for the first time gathering all departments (except the regional radio stations) into one place. The new building, called DR Byen (the DR city), covers an area of 132,000 m². Among other things it will - when finished in 2008 - contain a new concert building with room for 2,200 people, including 1,600 in the largest concert hall. This will include a large new organ by J. L. van den Heuvel Orgelbouw, which has already been completed in their workshops in Dortrecht, Holland.
The project has become much more expensive than planned, forcing DR to make drastic budget cuts. In April 2007 it was announced that 300 employees would be laid off, meaning that most of the sports department would be closed down as well as most of the educational department, several programmes and the radio channel DR X. DR would also give up its rights to the Olympic Games and attempt to sell the rights to the rights to a number of other sports events including soccer.
As the major recipient of license funds, DR operates under a public service contract with the government which it was unable to fulfil in the wake of the budget crisis related to the move. The budget overspends caused a major scandal which saw senior management of DR replaced, and was followed by a heated political debate over whether the service should receive additional emergency funding. Various measures to mitigate the impact on the public service obligations of the institution were contemplated by Parliament, and a compromise was agreed to limit the impact of the deficit, the main component of which was the authorization of the sale of DR's concert hall into private ownership.
See also
External links
- DR's internet site (Danish with limited English language text)
- DR Byen (English)
- DAB stations