Ålands Radio and TV

Ålands Radio and TV (ÅRTV) (Swedish: Ålands Radio och TV Ab) is a public service broadcaster in the autonomous region of the Åland Islands. The broadcaster operates a radio station, a television channel and various podcasts, focusing on news, sports, culture, weather and recent or upcoming events in Åland. The broadcaster operates in Swedish, as the official language of Åland.

Ålands Radio and TV

Type	Radio and television
Country	Finland
Availability	National (with TV licence) International (online)
Headquarters	Mariehamn
Broadcast area	Åland
Owner	State Department of Åland
Key people	Fredrik Sonck (CEO of the company) Heidi Grandell-Sonck (Editor-in-chief) Joachim Solborg (Head of Production Technology) Alexander Lindberg (Head of Distribution Technology)
Launch date	May 1, 1996 (1996-05-01)
Official website	www.alandsradio.ax
Language	Swedish

History

The company was founded on 1 May 1996, as a public service company owned by the State Department of Åland. The company took over the operations previously carried out by Rundradion i Finland on Åland, and operations changed radically after that. From broadcasting four hours a day, Åland Radio increased its broadcasts to all-day broadcasts. Today, the company broadcasts locally produced radio from 06.30 to 21.00 every weekday, and between 08.00 and 18.00 on weekends.

ÅRTV switched to HDTV broadcasts via the Smedsböle mast on February 9, 2021. From March 31, 2021, all broadcasts in standard definition ceased.

ÅRTV is also an associate member of the Nordic broadcasting union, Nordvision and the only broadcaster in the organisation from the Åland Islands.

Logo and identities

The current logo of the broadcaster was designed by CG Sjöberg and has been in use since 2012, which was updated in late August to early September 2016. The first logo was originally in use from the channel's launch to May 2012.

Management

As of 22 November 2024, the current chairman of the board is Magnus Lundberg. The vice chairman is Sara Kemetter, with the other members being Ove Andersson, Linnea Lindholm and Katarina Sundberg. Heidi Grandell-Sonck is Head of the Programme Committee.

Programme committee

The board, which is an independent body appointed by the Åland Government, is in charge of distributing licenses for radio and TV broadcasts on Åland. It also determines programmes and broadcasts by Åland Radio, which must comply with the provincial law's conditions regarding the broadcasting license regarding impartiality and objectivity. The programme committee also makes sure ARTV's ethical rules are followed and complies with the law.

Åland Radio and TV's ethical rules for program and content production apply to everyone who produces programs or content within ÅRTV or for ÅRTV. ÅRTV's operations are based on independence, impartiality and credibility. Political, commercial or similar interests do not affect the editorial content.

In addition, programmes and features must not be harmful to children and no one may have their rights violated in any broadcast or programme. However, there is a wide range of opinion - and freedom of information that must be taken into account. The board reviews programmes broadcast by ÅRTV to ensure they are in accordance with regional law on radio and television operations.

The programme committee also ensures that there is no product placement in its programmes since ÅRTV does not broadcast advertising in its television or radio broadcasts. As published by ÅRTV, programmes may not contain advertising or marketing information. Product placement and stealth advertising is also prohibited.

Services

ÅRTV has one radio channel, Ålands Radio. The broadcaster also has one television channel known as Ålandskanalen (sometimes referred to as Ålands TV or TV Åland).

Media license

ÅRTV is financed by a media fee, which is €123 per year (as of 2024). It is paid by any person over the age of 18 whose home municipality is on Åland, and who has an income over €14,000. Associations also pay a media fee for a taxable income over €50,000, this fee is €140 + 0.35% of the taxable income exceeding €50,000, a maximum of €3,000.

Viewers that pay for the media fee gain access to eight radio channels and ten digital TV channels: namely the public service radio channel Åland Radio, Swedish radio channels SR P1, SR P2, SR P3 and SR P4 (Radio Stockholm), and Finnish radio channels Yle Vega, Yle Radio X3M and Yle Radio Suomi. TV channels include the TV Åland channel owned by ÅRTV with additional channels including SVT1, SVT2, Kunskapskanalen, SVT Barn, SVT24 and TV4 from Sweden, with Yle TV1, Yle TV2 and Yle Teema & Fem from Finland.

Frequencies

Radio channels available on ÅRTV
From ÅRTV
Åland Radio	91.3 MHz
From Yle
Yle Vega	93.1 MHz
Yle X3M	104.9 MHz (Eastern Åland)
	104.3 MHz (Southern Åland)
	105.2 MHz (Western Åland)
Yle Radio Suomi	100.3 MHz
From SVT
Radio P3	88.6 MHz
Radio P1	95.0 MHz
Radio P2	97.1 MHz
Radio P4	102.3 MHz

The following HDTV channels are broadcast from the Smedsböle mast:

Television channels available on ÅRTV
From ÅRTV
Ålandskanalen	HD
From Yle
Yle TV1	HD
Yle TV2	HD
Yle Teema & Fem	HD
From SVT
SVT1	HD
SVT2	HD
Kunskapskanalen	DVB-T2
SVT Barn	HD
SVT24	HD
TV4	HD

Online & social media

ÅRTV uses several social media for their online audience, primarily focusing on Facebook and Instagram. Snapchat, TikTok and Twitter are also used but targeted towards young people in Åland.

External links

• Official website (in Swedish)