Iceland (about country)

Iceland is a Nordic island country between the North Atlantic and the Arctic Ocean. It has a population of 329,100 and an area of 103,000 km2, making it the most sparsely populated country in Europe. The capital and largest city is Reykjavík. Reykjavik and the surrounding areas in the southwest of the country are home to over two-thirds of the population. Iceland is volcanically and geologically active. The interior consists of a plateau characterised by sand and lava fields, mountains and glaciers, while many glacial rivers flow to the sea through the lowlands. Iceland is warmed by the Gulf Stream and has a temperate climate, despite a high latitude just outside the Arctic Circle.

Until the 20th century, Iceland relied largely on fishing and agriculture. Industrialisation of the fisheries and Marshall Plan aid following World War II brought prosperity and Iceland became one of the wealthiest and most developed nations in the world. In 1994, Iceland became party to the European Economic Area, which supported diversification into economic and financial services.

Icelandic culture is founded upon the nation's Scandinavian heritage. Most Icelanders are descendants of Germanic and Gaelic (Celtic) settlers. Icelandic, a North Germanic language, is descended from Old Norse and is closely related to Faroese and West Norwegian dialects. The country's cultural heritage includes traditional Icelandic cuisine, Icelandic literature and medieval sagas. Iceland has the smallest population of any NATO member and is the only one with no standing army, its lightly armed coast guard being in charge of defence.

Media

Iceland's largest television stations are the state-run Sjónvarpið and the privately owned Stöð 2 and SkjárEinn. Smaller stations exist, many of them local. Radio is broadcast throughout the country, including some parts of the interior. The main radio stations are Rás 1, Rás 2, X-ið 977, Bylgjan and FM957. The daily newspapers are Morgunblaðið and Fréttablaðið. The most popular websites are the news sites Vísir and Mbl.is.

Iceland is home to LazyTown, a children's television programme created by Magnús Scheving. It has become a very popular programme for children and adults and is shown in over 100 countries, including the UK, the Americas and Sweden. The LazyTown studios are located in Garðabær.

Laws

On 17 June 2010, the parliament passed the Icelandic Modern Media Initiative, a resolution proposing greater protection of free speech rights and the identity of journalists and whistle-blowers, the strongest journalist protection law in the world. According to a 2011 report by Freedom House, Iceland is one of the highest ranked countries in press freedom.

Audience

Iceland has a highly developed internet culture, with around 95% of the population having internet access, the highest proportion in the world. Iceland ranked 12th in the World Economic Forum's 2009–2010 Network Readiness Index, which measures a country's ability to competitively exploit communications technology. The United Nations International Telecommunication Union ranks the country 3rd in its development of information and communications technology, having moved up four places between 2008 and 2010. In February 2013 the country (ministry of the interior) was researching possible methods to protect children in regards to Internet pornography, claiming that pornography online is a threat to children as it supports child slavery and abuse. Strong voices within the community expressed concerns with this, stating that it is impossible to block access to child pornography without compromising the freedom of speech.

Content

Radio
Before television broadcasting started in 1966, RÚV had already been broadcasting radio since 1930. Rás 1 is the principal radio station, along with its sister channel Rás 2. Bylgjan is a notable private broadcaster.

Rás1 carries primarily news, weather, current affairs coverage, and cultural programming dealing with the arts, history, the Icelandic language, literature, and social and environmental issues.

Rás2 is currently the highest-rated radio station in Iceland, with a schedule composed chiefly of news, current affairs, and pop and rock music.

Television

RÚV is the television channel of RÚV, the Icelandic National Broadcasting Service, launched in 1966. The channel broadcasts primarily news, sports, cultural programs, children's material, American, British & Nordic films and entertainment programming. Among its highest-rated programs are the comedy sketch show Spaugstofan and Fréttir (News).



The audience of RUV company (online sources).

Newspapers

Fréttablaðið is distributed free of charge to homes in parts of the country. Each paper is read by about 60% and at any given time only 20% will not have read it at all over the past week. The main sections of the newspaper are news, sport, business, property.

Morgunblaðið is a much older newspaper, founded in 1913, and is Fréttablaðið’s main competitor. Its readership is second largest after Fréttablaðið.
The main sections of the newspaper are news, sport, business, world news, science and technology, weather.

Media market

Television
The principal television station in Iceland is RÚV, which is state-owned. It has a commitment to promote the Icelandic language and the country’s history, and is partly funded by license fee; the rest of the RÚV’s income comes from advertising. The channel broadcast by RÚV is Sjónvarpið, which translates as ‘the television’. Broadcasts started in 1966, and coverage very quickly reached every household in Iceland. RÚV had a monopoly on domestic broadcasting until 1986.

The main private television network is 365 corporation which runs numerous television stations including Stöð 2 (‘Channel 2’) which broadcasts mostly American programming but also original Icelandic programming and news programms. Other notable channels owned by 365 include Stöð 2 Sport, a sports channel, and various other sports channels and a movie channel which broadcasts mostly American movies. All of 365's channels are funded by subscription fees and advertising sales with one exception, Skífan TV, a music channel with music videos 24/7. The only subscription free principal channel is Skjár einn, which mainly broadcasts American programming and original Icelandic programming and is completely funded by advertising sales.

Radio
Before television broadcasting started in 1966, RÚV had already been broadcasting radio since 1930. Rás 1 is the principal radio station, along with its sister channel Rás 2. Bylgjan is a notable private broadcaster.



Press
Newspapers
Fréttablaðið is the principal daily newspaper in Iceland, and has the largest circulation of any newspaper in the country. It is distributed by 365 hf. to homes, free of charge. Morgunblaðið is a much older newspaper, founded in 1913, and is Fréttablaðið’s main competitor. Its readership is second largest after Fréttablaðið. Advertising accounts for 30% to 40% of the column space. These are the two main publications in terms of the quality press. The tabloids include DV, a small yet controversial paper, which is published four times a week. Viðskiptablaðið (‘the commercial newspaper’) is the country’s principal business-oriented newspaper.



Magazines
Iceland Review is an English language magazine about Iceland, published quarterly.



Internet
Iceland has a highly developed internet culture, with around 95% of the population having internet access, the highest proportion in the world. Iceland ranked 12th in the World Economic Forum's 2009–2010 Network Readiness Index, which measures a country's ability to competitively exploit communications technology. The United Nations International Telecommunication Union ranks the country 3rd in its development of information and communications technology, having moved up four places between 2008 and 2010. The most popular websites are the news sites Vísir and Mbl.is.



Advertising
Where do we start? It's not a big business in the international picture. Mostly because of the tiny population of 330,000 people. The population, therefore, is both a challenge and an advantage. For the last few decades there have been two strong media: The Icelandic Broadcasting Service (RUV) has been the main channel on which to deliver TV commercials to the nation, with some of the programs having up to 30 per cent of the population viewing. The main channel for print is the Fréttablaðið newspaper, with reading numbers around 60 per cent six days of the week. This media environment is quite unique compared to other countries and makes the battle to reach the consumer different.

The conventional media is thus strong. At the same time we see the younger generations using media in a different way. Iceland has one of the highest internet penetration rates in the world and the use of social media is more common than in most other countries.  More than 80 per cent of Icelanders over the age of 13 use Facebook.

A commercial is a commercial. The viewer sitting at home does not take into account whether the budget of the commercial he's watching is 10 million ISK or 100 million ISK. That is the brutal reality. Icelandic creatives have to find solutions to make campaigns and commercials that they can be proud of and, above all, sell. A low budget is therefore never an excuse. Did the viewer like it and, more importantly, did he act according to plan? The aim is to make people want what you want them to want. The BIG commercial is not made in Iceland at the moment. The focus is on the personal life and the practical life. The wow-factor is not a helicopter shot any more.

Of course the size of the nation affects the business of advertising. The budgets are smaller than in international campaigns. That probably makes Icelandic ad people focus more strongly on key messages and makes it more important to find clever solutions. However, it is important for brands, both Icelandic and international, to make Icelandic commercials. The emotional power of TV commercials somehow fails when you watch a German family drive through Munich, speaking Icelandic, but with the words and the movement of their lips out of sync (although this would probably be a nice idea for a commercial). TV commercials have, actually, been an important part of Icelandic television. They are a creative interpretation of everyday life in Iceland and over the years Icelandic drama and comedy series have been very rare.

• Ennemm - Provides information on this advertising agency including details on projects & contacts. 
• Hvita Husid - Iceland´s longest serving ad agency and has decades of experience in marketing the country´s biggest firms. 
• Snerra - Iceland's leading calendar publishing company . Developing high quality calendars, books and booklets. 
• Society of Icelandic Advertising Agencies - Federation of 7 of the largest advertising agencies in Iceland and 2 media agencies. 
• The Icelandic Group Plc. - A holding company controlling an international network of production and marketing companies selling seafood products.