Nordic satellite television as cultural defence in Denmark 1967–1988

ABSTRACT This article explores the ideas of what constituted Nordic television in discussions about the future of Danish television from 1967 to 1988. By the 1960s the Nordic countries already shared television programmes through the Nordvision cooperation. Satellite techno-logy offered a new dimension. The cultural bonds of the Nordic countries were able to be reinforced by sharing television programmes, and just as importantly, Nordic cooperation would shield Nordic viewers from a multitude of foreign channels in the future. The Nordic countries successfully negotiated the exceptional option of sharing a satellite beam across national borders at the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) conference in 1977. Still, Nordic satellite television ultimately lost the battle to provincial Denmark in the early 1980s. In accordance with the dominant Danish national self-imagination, the Danish nation was to be defended from within, and regional television provided what was perceived as an authentic defence against West German television flowing across the border.