General
Digital
TV
Finnish
Television Licence
Channels
TV
Programmes for Finland
Additional
Information
Digital Broadcasting
from 31.08.07
Television
broadcasts in Finland were transformed
to digital broadcasts on
31st August 2007, meaning
you can no longer view TV
without a digibox or a digitv. More...
Pal
B/G System
Finland uses the Pal B/G
TV system, so if you plan
on bringing a TV, DVD player/recorder,
VCR, or video cassettes
with you, make sure they
are compatible first! You
can check systems at the World
TV System & Voltage
Guide.
Scart
In Finland virtually
all audio-visual (AV) equipment
comes with SCART inputs
and outputs. To connect
new AV components with
components you've brought
from overseas you may require
SCART connectors. If your
components don't have them,
you CAN purchase adaptors! Verkkokauppa and Biltema both
have a good selection and
offer online purchase and
delivery.
Digital
TV
Television broadcasts in Finland were transformed to digital
broadcasts on 31st August 2007, meaning
you can no longer view TV without a digibox¹ or
a digitv².
¹digibox,
or "set top box" -
a digital receiver for use
with an analogue TV.
²digitv,
or "digital television" -
a television with an integrated
digital receiver.
Coverage area
The digital television network covers about 99.9 %
of the population in Finland, so satellite TV has
not become popular at this stage. Channels and other services
are gathered into so called "multiplexes", but
more commonly referred to as "cable
packages" or similar.The amount of "basic" channels available
varies slightly in different parts of Finland.
Further Information: http://www.digitv.fi (English/Finnish/Swedish)
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Finnish
Television Licence
If you're Australian or American, you won't
like this concept; Finland has television licence fees!
When you start using a TV set, you must notify the Finnish
Communications Regulatory Authority, FICORA, of it. On the
basis of this notification, the authority will send you
a television fee invoice.
The obligation to pay the TV Licence
fee occurs regardless of how you receive TV broadcasts, such
as:
- via
a digital television or television with a digital set-top
box
- via a satellite receiver
- via mobile television
- via the computer.
You can pay the television fee in one-month, three-month,
six-month or twelve-month instalments, by contacting
FICORA by phone or e-mail,
or by completing a form available at post offices or
online.
You can also arrange regular payment though your online bank.
| Fees
as of January 1 2011: |
| 1
month |
3
months |
6
months |
12
months |
| € 21.15 |
€ 62.35 |
€ 123.25 |
€ 244.90 |
Note: You
must contact Ficora,
and let them know about your
television before you
begin to use it!
Further Information
&Online Notifications ( www.tv-maksu.fi ):
English Finnish Swedish
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Channels
Additional TV channels have become available
with the introduction of digital broadcasting. As of October 2011 you have access to 13 "basic" channels, comprising 5 government
and 8 private channels, without subscribing to additional
packages. The government channels include YLE TV1, YLE
TV2, YLE Teema, TV Finland and YLE FST5 (Swedish). Private
network channels include MTV3, Nelonen 4, SubTV, JIM, The Voice, LIV, AVA and SuomiTV.
While these 13 channels are 'free', a TV
licence is required in Finland.
The quality of programming on
Finnish TV is high regardless of tight budgets. Like
England and Australia, the government channels tend to broadcast
more 'high-brow' content than the commercial stations, such
as news and documentaries. The commercial stations show recently
released series, movies etcetera, although you may not find
the latest seasons' episodes available. The level of foreign
content is high.
Finland has not adopted the practice
of broadcasting dubbed versions of programmes; all shows
are broadcast in their original languages, with Finnish sub-titles.
This has undoubtedly aided the Finns' remarkable language
abilities, as well as making life easier for non-Finnish
speakers!
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TV
Programmes for Finland
TVGUIDO
TVGUIDO covers
most of the Finnish channels, and is unusual in that it displays
TV programmes with their original names rather
than the Finnish translations; very handy indeed! 18 channels
are currently listed (mid-2010) and the schedule covers the
next 7 days. . Go to www.tvguido.com
Telkku
Telkku provides
an excellent TV programme service for all stations,
including cable
operators. Programmes are available for the next 14 days.
The site is in Finnish, but if you click any programme a
pop-up box will appear which shows the original language
name of the show as well as the Finnish name. Movies are
highlighted in bold.
To find programmes at Telkku for channels
other than the main 5 shown on the front page, place your
mouse over the 'Peruskanavat 1' button, then highlight/click
the list you would like to expand. Go
to Telkku
Individual Channels:
Programmes can also be found from the individual
TV stations' Web sites; if these links don't take you direct
to the programme pages, look for a button that says Ohjelmat, Ohjelmaopas or
similar.
YLE
(all channels) MTV3 Nelonen SubTV JIM
Movie Reviews
Once you've obtained the original movie name from Telkku,
the Internet Movie Database, more widely known as IMDB,
is the #1 site for movie reviews. Rotten
Tomatoes is also pretty good.
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