NRK Foresees a Bright Future

ISSUE 27 /Jan 2010

On a global basis, if you had to guess which single company Other recent projects have included the Children’s Norwegian owns the largest number of individual wysiwyg licenses, would Song Contest, Melodi Grand Prix and Eurosong Norway. NRK you guess a broadcasting station in Norway? It shouldn’t come also hosted the second Junior Eurovision Song Contest in Lille- as a total shock as Scandinavia has a reputation for being on the hammer in 2004. leading-edge of technology. So, as NRK in Oslo holds the record, then it follows that this organization also holds the record for most Henrik Dinger, one of the Lighting Designers at NRK, explained previsualization power of any institution in the world! Now that’s how wysiwyg has helped coordinate and design some of their powerful stuff! prestigious projects and how it helps in other ways. “NRK has been using wysiwyg since 1995,” he said, (wow – one of our very Perhaps many stations or design houses put the design responsibility first Users) “and every year the number of NRK users has grown. in the hands of a few. But NRK currently has 17 very active Lighting The station has a dedicated wysiwyg lab used for a variety of Designers working on a constant flow of high-profile projects. purposes ranging from wysiwyg training as well as training staff on different lighting consoles to preprogramming shows, saving valu- A little background: NRK (the able time and money. We use it for just about everything – even Norwegian Broadcasting Corpora- simple designs.” tion) is Norway’s major broadcasting institution with approximately 3,500 One of the ways they streamline efficiency is by keeping the employees and 57 offices in Norway original wysiwyg files, for the various venues around Norway and and abroad. NRK1 is the country’s beyond, on a shared network server. That way, a designer from largest TV channel with a market share of some 40%. NRK’s larg- any location can access the files and share design ideas via the est radio channel P1 is also Norway’s largest radio channel, with server, regardless of whether you are in the office or if someone a market share of 55%. NRK.no is the fifth most-visited Website is sick or working from home, or for collaborating with Designers among Norwegian content suppliers on the Internet. NRK is a living abroad. member of the European Broadcasting Union (EBU), the Asian Pacific Broadcasting Union (ABU) and is on the steering commit- tee of Public Broadcasters International (PBI).

NRK prides itself on being perceived as innovative both in content and form, and in deploying new technologies to innovative uses. They are also known for being versatile, credible and well-managed.

One of NRK’s most recent projects in the limelight was the Nobel Peace Prize Award ceremony on December 10, honouring US President Barack Because Norway won the Eurovision Song Contest in 2009 in Obama. The event was held at Oslo’s Moscow, NRK will be the host broadcaster for Eurovision 2010 city hall and attended by about 1000 in Oslo in May this year, one of their biggest projects and one for invited guests, including heads of state, which they have already been preparing since last summer. wysi- Hollywood celebrities, business and wyg will most definitely be there, so keep an eye on the July issue financial leaders, even the Norwegian of The Plan for the full story. Royal family. We look forward to seeing more great things from NRK and NRK was also host broadcaster of the Nobel Peace Prize Concert everyone else in the industry that takes full advantage of wysiwyg following the Award ceremony. The event included performances and makes the most of its versatility. If you have a story to share, by Wyclef Jean, Westlife, Donna Summer and Alexander Rybak, email [email protected]. winner of the 2009 Eurovision Song Contest. Lighting design was by Al Gurdon.