The name ’Radiotjänst’

Already in the 1910’s and 1920’s, people could listen to Swedish and foreign radio. In 1923, the Swedish Riksdag decided to build up a broadcasting network that would be run by the State while the programmes would be produced by a separate company.  The press, radio industry and Tidningarnas Telegrambyrå (TT, Swedish multi media news provider), formed AB Radiotjänst , which was given broadcasting licence. AB Radiotjänst started their broadcasts on January 1, 1925, sending for a couple of hours every evening over one channel.  In 1957, Sveriges Radiokoncernen (Sweden’s Radio Group) was formed, in which Sveriges Television was included. These take over the broadcasting licence for television and radio, and AB Radiotjänst was “laid to rest”.

Radio

A type of fee for the use of radio equipment was introduced already in 1907. Then it was The Crown who wrote out licences for radio listeners.  In 1924, Kungliga Telegrafstyrelsen (Royal Telegraph Board) took over this task. The annual fee for a licence back then was 3.50 Swedish kronor, but was raised to 12 kronor the following year, only to be lowered the next by two kronor. The ten kronor licence fee applied up until 1951. The licence fee went partly to build up the broadcasting network, partly to programme production. Private clubs that experimented with radio broadcasting also received compensation from the licence funding. In 1943, an extra licence fee was introduced for radios mounted in vehicles such as cars, boats or aeroplanes – the licence inspections were made by police together with traffic inspections.

TV

In the middle of the 1950’s, television made its breakthrough in Swedish households, especially in connection with the 1958 Soccer Word Cup in Stockholm. The TV Licence was introduced in 1956 and cost 25 kronor. In the beginning of the 1970’s, an extra charge for colour was introduced, for those owning a colour television. Both the TV and Radio licences existed up until the end of the 1970’s. Those who only had a radio only had to pay the radio licence. Those owning both a TV and radio only had to pay the TV Licence fee. In 1978, the separate radio fee was removed, as was the extra colour fee in 1990. Ever since, there has been only one kind of TV Licence fee, for the possession of a television receiver. At the end of the 1980’s, Radiotjänst i Kiruna AB took over the administration and invoicing of the TV Licence fee from the then Televerket.

In Öppet arkiv (the Open Archives, in Swedish), you can relive some of the milestones in Swedish television history: news and programs that gathered all of Sweden in front of the television sets. 
Go to svt.se - Öppet arkiv