Norwegian Broadcasting (NRK) has confirmed that its dramatization of Crown Princess Martha’s role during World War II is “mostly fiction.” The NRK series Atlantic Crossing is now being aired on PBS’ venerable Masterpiece Theater in the US, where hundreds of thousands of Norwegian-Americans may not be aware that it’s far from being factually correct. When […]
Norwegian’s Hong Kong documentary nominated for an Oscar
March 15, 2021
A documentary on the demonstrations in Hong Kong that was directed by Norwegian journalist Anders Hammer is among those nominated for an Oscar at this year’s Academy Awards. Hammer spent several months on the front lines of Hong Kong residents’ desperate attempts to preserve their democracy, amidst brutal repression ordered from Beijing. Hammer’s “Do Not […]
‘Exit’ chauvinists set new TV record
March 8, 2021
UPDATED: They’re back for a second season: Four of the most egotistical, money-hungry, power-grabbing and glaringly cocky men that Norwegian Broadcasting (NRK) could dream up for its hit TV series called Exit. Now they’ve also managed to draw NRK’s biggest streaming audience ever, with 1.16 million Norwegians watching just the first episode when it became […]
Critic who bashed TIX won’t repent
February 24, 2021
The Norwegian singer known as TIX put his critics to shame when he won Norway’s qualifier for the Eurovision Song Contest last weekend by a wide margin. One of TIX’s toughest critics was even forced to eat a trademark TIX headband live on national TV Tuesday night, after an extraordinary live debate over how he’d allegedly […]
Broadcast council cross with ‘Atlantic Crossing’
November 25, 2020
Norway’s national broadcasting council unleashed some harsh criticism on Wednesday against NRK’s series about the late Crown Princess Märtha’s war years in the US. The council claims NRK and the creators of “Atlantic Crossing” took too many artistic liberties with history, although several members were supportive. The series has sparked sharp debate in Norway as […]
Storm rages over ‘Atlantic Crossing’
November 23, 2020
An estimated 1 million Norwegians settled down in front of their televisions Sunday evening to watch the latest episode of “Atlantic Crossing,” state broadcaster NRK’s new series about Crown Princess Märtha’s exile years in the US during World War II. Viewers are drawn not only by royal glamour and dramatic war history, but also by […]
Thousands lose access to TV2
June 2, 2020
Negotiations between Norway’s national commercial television channel TV2 and cable TV company Get broke down during the long holiday weekend, with each side blaming the other when viewers suddenly lost access to TV2 and its other channels including TV2 Zebra, and news station TV2 Nyhetskanalen. “We received an offer from Telia (which owns Get) 20 […]
Norway mourns its ‘man in the moon’
May 4, 2020
Norwegians were mourning the death over the weekend of Erik Tandberg, an air force officer and rocket science engineer who explained the developing space age to generations. He was 87. Tandberg was hailed not just for his immense knowledge of all kinds of space matters, but also for his unusual skills in sharing what he […]
Conflict blacks out cable TV channels
March 3, 2020
Around a million Norwegians lost their cable access to television channels TVNorge, MAX, Fem and Eurosport on Tuesday. There’s no technical trouble, only quarreling between Discovery, which owns the channels, and Telia, which owns Norway’s Get cable service. Get delivers the channels from Discovery, which has been negotiating a new distribution agreement. Telia and Discovery […]
Media struggle with shipowner’s suicide
March 2, 2020
NEWS ANALYSIS: The death last week of Norwegian shipowner Wilhelm Wilhelmsen continues to stir interest, not least after it became known that he took his own life. Norwegian media outlets have a long tradition of not reporting suicides, however, and have thus remained mostly mum even as questions swirl about what will happen to the […]
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