Television in Iceland is composed of the public broadcasting service of RÚV as well as four free-to-air channels and a number of subscription channels provided by local private broadcasters, including Síminn and Sýn. Streaming services are also available from international providers such as Netlfix, Disney+, Viaplay and HBO Max. Television broadcasting began in Iceland in 1955 intended for U.S forces at the Keflavík Air Base. In 1966, RÚV began local television broadcasts in Icelandic. Channels can be received through managed IPTV providers such as Síminn and Sýn, by over-the-top streaming applications and via digital terrestrial TV (DVB-T2).
History The first television broadcasts commenced in 1955 by the American Forces Radio and Television Service (AFRTS) from the Naval Air Station Keflavik. A small transmitter broadcasting at 50W on the VHF band was not intended for the local population, but nevertheless locals began installing antennas and buying US television sets to receive the broadcasts. This created concern among some local politicians and prominent individuals, claiming it would weaken Icelandic language and culture. In 1961, the power was increased to 250W. Opposition to the American broadcasts was countered by 14,000 locals, who had come to enjoy the American programming, who signed a petition demanding it stay on air. Eventually, the AFRTS ceased its terrestrial broadcasts and built a private cable TV network in 1974.
Icelandic television Domestic television broadcasting began on 30 September 1966, for three hours every day except Thursday. After much deliberation and effort to secure funding, the Icelandic state public broadcaster, RÚV, began transmissions using PAL standards over the VHF band. It initially used the name Sjónvarpið, meaning 'The Television'. Colour television broadcasts began in 1973. The first satellite ground station, Skyggnir, opened in 1981 which allowed the first international live TV events to be broadcast in 1986. Before satellite transmission Iceland was not a part of the Eurovision Network because of distance; all imported programs arrived by mail.
Independent television and cable networks Stöð 2, the first independent broadcaster, began encrypted broadcasts in 1986 via terrestrial VHF which required the use of a decoder by a paid service. This was joined by Sýn and other VHF channels in the 1990s and 2000s. Stöð 2 encrypted VHF broadcasts ended in 2011. Throughout the 1980s to 1990s, local cable TV services began being established in some towns such as Keflavík, Hafnarfjörður, Hella, Húsavik, Skagafjörður and Seltjarnarnes offering international channels received via satellite ground stations, as well as local broadcasting. Síminn began installing cable TV networks in some areas of Reykjavík from 1998, marketed as Breiðband. Síminn later acquired some cable networks including in Húsavík, and Hafnafjörður in 2002. Digital cable broadcasts (DVB-C) began in 2002 and, at its peak, the Síminn cable TV network reached 37,000 households. In 2010-2011, the Síminn HFC cable TV networks (including street cabinets) were converted for FTTC (VDSL) use, ceasing cable TV distribution. IPTV came in place of most cable networks, via fibre or DSL services. As of 2021, all cable TV networks in Iceland are defunct and have been replaced by IPTV services, with a small exception of Kapalvæðing operating in Keflavík.
Pay-TV MMDS and UHF broadcasting Digital Ísland (now Sýn), began operating pay-TV services using over-the-air MMDS broadcasts in the southwest of Iceland in analogue in 1993, moving to digital in 2004, serving over 70,000 households. Digital Ísland offered international programming as well as local pay TV stations. MMDS transmissions ceased in 2016. Digital Ísland later expanded to other areas using DVB-T over UHF in 2005. This DVB-T UHF network later became the basis of Iceland's public/private shared DVB-T/T2 network facilitating the digital switchover in 2015.
Internet Protocol television By the mid-2000s, fibre and ADSL broadband became widely available, which led to the deployment of managed IPTV systems in 2005 by Síminn followed by Vodafone Iceland in 2007. The conversion of the Síminn cable TV network to FTTC in 2010-2011 greatly expanded high-speed VDSL internet access. This allowed many new domestic and international channels to become available to households via IPTV. Iceland leads the world in IPTV subscriptions, with over 65% of households using such services in 2014.
Direct satellite broadcasts In 2007, RÚV began direct satellite TV broadcasts using the Thor 5 satellite over DVB-S, run by Telenor, in order to service fishing fleets around Iceland and remote areas where the terrestrial network does not reach. The service was encrypted and was available only on request. RÚV's satellite TV distribution over DVB-S ceased in June 2025, as fishing fleets transitioned to IP-based solutions.
Digital switchover In 2014 an agreement was signed between public broadcaster RÚV and Vodafone Iceland (now Sýn) on 27 March 2013 to run two new shared digital multiplexes using DVB-T2 (for HD transmissions) and DVB-T (for SD transmissions) over UHF bands, with 99.8% population coverage, using a mix of existing Digtal Ísland infrastructure and new transmission sites and equipment. Vodafone would also use the same UHF infrastructure to broadcast pay-TV channels, including Stöð 2, sports and international channels using conditional access. The new digital DVB-T2 system enabled public broadcasting of RÚV in HD for the first time and facilitated a digital switchover, which occurred in phases by region from 2013-2015. The last RÚV analogue transmitter was shut down on the 2 February 2015. Transmissions on the older DVB-T system in standard definition ceased on 3 June 2024. Terrestrial broadcasts over DVB-T2 broadcasts of RÚV in HD remain until at least 2028 by contract. As a result of the prevalence of fibre internet infrastructure in Iceland, as of 2022, only 1% of the population uses over-the-air terrestrial broadcasts (DVB) to watch television. The Stöð 2 brand was retired in favour of Sýn in June 2025, and all of its channels were accordingly rebranded. In conjunction, its main linear channel, Sýn, became completely free-to-air, throughout most of its history only its evening news programme was open. In 2026, it was reported that RÚV intends to end terrestrial broadcasting via DVB-T2 completely in 2028.
List of channels
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