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151 channels
Swedish television is defined by a quiet but firm public-service ethos, anchored by SVT. Unlike many European neighbours, Sweden never developed a strong commercial-terrestrial duopoly; instead, SVT and the commercially funded but licence-fee-free TV4 compete on roughly equal footing. The result is a landscape where documentaries and cultural programming get prime slots, not just late-night filler. SVT's Dokument utifrån series, for example, regularly draws a million viewers, a serious number for a country of 10 million. Foreign-language content is almost always subtitled, not dubbed. This includes children's shows (young Swedes learn English early via subtitled cartoons) and even many reality formats. The exception is purely Swedish-language programming, from evening soaps like Rederiet's descendants to the ubiquitous Friday-night entertainment show Let's Dance. The news is presented with a characteristic flatness: SVT's Rapport anchors read with minimal inflection, a contrast to the more emotive style of commercial Nyhetsmorgon. Sports culture revolves around winter sports and football; the national team's qualification matches are national events, and the ski-oriented Vinterstudion block on Saturdays is a ritual. The channel lineup is surprisingly multilingual: there are dedicated Arabic, Kurdish, and Azerbaijani channels reflecting recent diaspora communities, alongside English-language offerings like BBC World News and the commercial TV4's sister channels. A typical evening in a Swedish home starts with a documentary at 20:00, shifts to a British crime drama subtitled at 21:00, and ends with a late-night talk show that blends American format with Nordic deadpan.