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Sports media · Norway

TV 2

Norway's commercial public-service broadcaster, holder of Eliteserien and Toppserien rights to 2034 and NRK's partner and rival in winter-sport rights.
✓ Last reviewed: September 2026
Established1991; first broadcast 6 September 1992
OwnerEgmont
HeadquartersMedia City Bergen, with a news division in Oslo
Public-service contractWith the Norwegian state, 1 January 2024 to 31 December 2028
Daily digital reach899,000, Q4 2025 (Kantar Media, Forbruker og Media)
Rights heldEliteserien and Toppserien to 2034; biathlon with NRK to 2030

What is TV 2?

TV 2 is a Norwegian commercial television company, established in 1991 as the country's first privately owned broadcaster and on air from 6 September 1992. Its head office is at Media City Bergen, with a large news division in Oslo. It is owned by the Danish media group Egmont. Alongside its main channel it runs the niche channels TV 2 Zebra, TV 2 Livsstil, TV 2 Humor, TV 2 Nyhetskanalen, TV 2 Sportskanalen — launched in 2007 — and TV 2 Sport Premium, launched in 2010, together with the streaming service TV 2 Play.[1]

It is also Norway's designated commercial public-service broadcaster. Under an agreement with the Norwegian state running from 1 January 2024 to 31 December 2028, TV 2 carries obligations including daily news bulletins, Norwegian-language children's and youth programming, news editorial staff in at least six locations and a head office at least 100 kilometres from central Oslo, in return for compensation of up to 150 million kroner a year for the net cost of the remit.[2] Its sport sits at tv2.no/sport, a path under the parent domain.

What does TV 2 cover?

Football is TV 2's largest commitment. It has held the principal rights to Norwegian club football since 2023, and in April 2026 the Norwegian Football Federation's new media agreement extended TV 2's Eliteserien coverage through 2034, together with the women's top division Toppserien and the women's national team over the same term.[3] Winter sport is the second pillar, and it is shared. Biathlon is held jointly with NRK to 2030 under the European Broadcasting Union agreement covering the World Cup, World Championships, junior championships and IBU Cup.[4] [5]

In January 2025 TV 2 and Viaplay announced a shared rights arrangement covering the FIS cross-country, alpine, Nordic combined and ski jumping World Cups for the four seasons from 2026/27 through 2029/30, excluding events staged in Norway, which are held by NRK from November 2026 to April 2030.[9] The same arrangement covered the EHF Champions League and European League, and the English FA Cup, for the spring of 2025, and covers the European and World handball championships through 2031.[6] TV 2 stated it would carry the major competitions on its main channel and on TV 2 Play.[6]

What are TV 2's reach and standing?

Kantar Media's Forbruker og Media measurement recorded 899,000 daily digital users for TV 2 in the fourth quarter of 2025, third among Norwegian news brands behind VG and NRK.[7] Its standing is also a regulated one: Medietilsynet supervises the public-service remit and reported that TV 2 met every requirement of the commercial public-service assignment in 2024.[8]

The clearer measure of its position in sport is the rights portfolio itself. Between the Eliteserien and Toppserien packages to 2034, the shared biathlon rights to 2030, the shared FIS package from 2026/27 to 2029/30 and the handball championships to 2031, TV 2 holds or shares the rights to most of the competitions in which Norwegian teams and athletes compete for titles, with the exception of the Olympic Games and the ski events staged in Norway, both of which sit with NRK.[3] [5] [6]

Since when?

TV 2 was established in 1991 and began broadcasting from Grieghallen in Bergen on 6 September 1992. Ownership was for years divided equally between Egmont and A-pressen; Egmont acquired full control and the company is now wholly within the Egmont group. TV 2 Sportskanalen launched in 2007 and TV 2 Sport Premium in 2010; the streaming service now called TV 2 Play was formerly TV 2 Sumo.[1]

The current public-service agreement with the state was announced on 30 November 2023 and runs from 1 January 2024 to 31 December 2028, replacing the 2019–2023 contract; it added the requirement that news editorial staff be present in at least six different locations.[2] On the sports side, the biathlon extension to 2030 was confirmed in July 2024, the Viaplay winter-sport and handball arrangement on 8 January 2025, and the extension of Norwegian football to 2034 on 20 April 2026.[3] [5] [6]

Why does TV 2 matter in Norway's sport?

TV 2 is the commercial counterweight to NRK in a market where the two are simultaneously rivals and co-purchasers. Biathlon — the discipline with the largest Norwegian television following after cross-country skiing — is bought jointly by them and shown on both, an arrangement NRK's then director explained by saying that single public broadcasters can no longer acquire the largest rights alone.[5] Where the two do not share, they divide by territory: ski events in Norway to NRK, the international World Cup rounds to TV 2 and Viaplay from 2026/27 through 2029/30.[6]

In football the division is cleaner. TV 2 has carried Eliteserien since 2023 and will carry it, with Toppserien and the women's national team, through 2034, while the Norwegian Cup passes to Schibsted and VG from 2029.[3] Domestic league football, women's and men's, is therefore a TV 2 property through the 2034 season.

References

  1. Store norske leksikon — TV 2. Accessed September 2026.
  2. Medietilsynet — the state and TV 2 agree a new commercial public-service contract, 30 November 2023. Accessed September 2026.
  3. VG — TV 2 extends Eliteserien to 2034; VG and Schibsted take the cup, 20 April 2026. Accessed September 2026.
  4. NRK — press release, NRK and TV 2 secure biathlon to 2030, via NTB Kommunikasjon, 19 February 2020. Accessed September 2026.
  5. Kampanje — Biathlon on TV 2 and NRK to 2030, 8 July 2024. Accessed September 2026.
  6. TV 2 — press release, Viaplay and TV 2 secure winter sport to 2030 and handball to 2031, via NTB Kommunikasjon, 8 January 2025. Accessed September 2026.
  7. Kantar Media for MBL — official digital reach figures, Q4 2025, published 13 February 2026. Accessed September 2026.
  8. Medietilsynet — TV 2 met all requirements as commercial public-service broadcaster in 2024, published 26 June 2025. Accessed September 2026.
  9. NRK — press release, NRK secures the rights to all ski competitions in Norway, November 2026 to April 2030, via NTB Kommunikasjon, 18 January 2025. Accessed September 2026.