- published: 03 Jun 2013
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Ríkisútvarpið (RÚV) (pronounced [ˈriːcɪsˌuːtvar̥pɪð] or [ˈruːv]) (English: 'The Icelandic National Broadcasting Service') is Iceland's national public-service broadcasting organization.
Operating from studios in the country's capital, Reykjavík, as well as regional centres around the country, the service broadcasts a variety of general programming to a wide audience across the whole country via radio channels Rás 1 and Rás 2, and one television channel.
RÚV began radio broadcasting in 1930 and its first television transmissions were made in 1966. In both cases coverage quickly reached nearly every household in Iceland. RÚV is funded by a television licence fee collected from every income tax payer, as well as advertising revenue. RÚV has been a full active member of the European Broadcasting Union since 1956.
Since 1986, the year in which its monopoly as the only permitted domestic broadcaster was ended, RÚV has faced competition from a number of private broadcasting companies, most notably the 365 corporation.