The Danish media environment is characterised by a combination of strong domestic broadcasters and newspapers. Two state-owned broadcasters, one a licence-fee funded public service broadcaster (DR), and the other a public service broadcaster funded mostly by advertising sales and subscription fees (TV2), dominate broadcast news and have a wide reach via digital platforms. (A number of commercial TV channels have a significant audience share for entertainment but offer no news.) A diverse national press has a strong position online while regional and local papers remain important in their respective markets but have more limited digital reach.

Digital developments

Denmark has very high levels of internet, smartphone, and tablet use, and the media environment is rapidly digitizing. The two public service broadcasters compete head-to-head with newspapers for online news readers. Despite the recent introduction of various forms of pay models, the most successful newspaper websites—especially tabloid—still reach an online news audience as large as or larger than the websites of the free public service broadcasters, but the industry is concerned over the long-term implications of a free PSB versus pay newspaper digital environment.

Social networks and digital participation

Facebook and YouTube are very widely used in Denmark, but so far social media seem to play a limited role as a way of accessing, finding, and engaging with news. Twitter has been embraced by some journalists and politicians but is still a niche platform with a limited reach and base in the population at large.

RKN and KCS