Julia Stoll
Research expert covering TV and video media
Television in Sweden - statistics & facts
In comparison to other countries, Sweden’s TV broadcasting began relatively late, officially started in 1956 by the government and initiated by Radiotjänst. Television was available free of advertising and funded by license fees. After another public service TV station was established, the first commercial channel – TV3 – started broadcasting in 1987. Today, the Swedish television market is dominated by six companies: Viaplay Group – formerly known as Nordic Entertainment Group – generating the most revenue, followed by the public broadcaster Sveriges Television AB (SVT), Telia Company's TV4 Group, media companies C More Entertainment and Discovery Networks Sweden, as well as public Swedish Educational Broadcasting Company. As measured by the audience share of television channels in Sweden, the public service station SVT1, commercial channel TV4, as well as SVT2 were most popular.
It could not be denied that watching traditional TV will continue to decline in the upcoming years, while online video gains more and more popularity. In the past decade, the share of individuals watching online television services per day in Sweden increased by 47 percent, reaching nearly 60 percent of the population in 2021. One of the most popular devices in order to stream television content is the connected TV (CTV) box. In a 2021 survey, over half of respondents stated to watch TV on CTVs on a weekly basis. With more than 1.4 million hours, SVT Play was by far the broadcaster video-on-demand network with the highest average daily viewing time in the country that year. In comparison, only about 545,500 hours were spent on watching TV4 online.
The most common TV distribution platform in Sweden
According to the most recent data, the number of TV households in Sweden in 2020 amounted to roughly 4.7 million. This marks an increase compared to previous year, when 4.6 million households owned a television set. In 2021, the most used technology to receive a television signal was digital cable with 1.8 million subscriptions, followed by Internet Protocol Television, abbreviated as IPTV with roughly 1.6 million subscribers. Additionally, both digital and IPTV surpassed satellite in 2020 and 2021 respectively in terms of revenues generated by distribution platforms.Online TV habits in Sweden
The average daily television viewing time in Sweden decreased from 166 minutes in 2009 to 127 minutes in 2019. With people staying at home during the coronavirus pandemic, the time spent watching TV slightly grew again in 2020, amounting to 129 minutes before falling to an all-time low of 124 minutes the year later.It could not be denied that watching traditional TV will continue to decline in the upcoming years, while online video gains more and more popularity. In the past decade, the share of individuals watching online television services per day in Sweden increased by 47 percent, reaching nearly 60 percent of the population in 2021. One of the most popular devices in order to stream television content is the connected TV (CTV) box. In a 2021 survey, over half of respondents stated to watch TV on CTVs on a weekly basis. With more than 1.4 million hours, SVT Play was by far the broadcaster video-on-demand network with the highest average daily viewing time in the country that year. In comparison, only about 545,500 hours were spent on watching TV4 online.
