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The political economy of networked media: The revenue and concentration of communication markets in the Nordics Cover

The political economy of networked media: The revenue and concentration of communication markets in the Nordics

Nordicom Review
Volume 47 (2026): Issue 1 (January 2026)
By: ,  ,  ,   and    
Open Access
|Apr 2026
Figures & tables

Figures & Tables

Table 1

HHI concentration measures in the EU and the US

Concentration degreeEuropean CommissionUS Department of Justice
Low0 – 1,0000 – 1,000
Moderate1,000 – 2,0001,000 – 1,800
High2,000 – 10,0001,800 – 10,000

[i] Source: EU, 2004; US, 2023

Table 2

Revenue for the telecom sector, 2022 (million EUR)

DenmarkFinlandNorwaySweden
Wireline2,222.8n/aa48.3218.9
Wireless220.82,1271,615.02,817.8
Internet service provision1,631.79441,358.81,387.0
Multichannel video distribution1,133.3481,032.2888.6
Total6,106.53,1194,054.45,312.3

Comments: Currency conversions conducted with Claude Sonnet 4, based on average conversion rates for 2022. Multichannel video distribution includes pay-TV revenue, as reports do not distinguish between these revenue streams, for Denmark, Norway, and Sweden.

a Wireline not reported in Finland after 2019.

Source: The Danish Agency for Data Supply and Infrastructure; The Agency for Digital Government; Traficom Communication statistics; The Norwegian Telecommunications Authority; The Swedish Post and Telecom Authority; annual report; Statista

Table 3

Nordic concentration measures (CR4 and HHI) of telecom sectors, 2022

MeasureDenmarkFinlandNorwaySweden
CR4HHICR4HHICR4HHICR4HHI
Wireline67.21,958n/an/a97.12,54184.94,487
Wireless90.02,30099.03,31484.1a2,55480.02,575
Internet service provision65.61,27096.02,66286.62,33778.21,946
Multichannel94.13,77599.02,81179.61,99189.73,078

Comments: HHI based on market share for Finland, Norway, and Sweden, but based on revenue for Denmark.

Multichannel video distribution includes pay-TV programming.

a CR3

Source: The Danish Agency for Data Supply and Infrastructure; Traficom Communication statistics; The Norwegian Telecommunications Authority; The Swedish Post and Telecom Authority; annual reports; Statista

Table 4

Revenue for content media sectors, 2022 (million EUR)

DenmarkFinlandNorwaySweden
Commercial television broadcastingn/ab255874.41,369.8
Public service broadcasting439.7290594.3540.5
Commercial broadcast radio171.67158.6134.2
Public service broadcast radion/ac97n/ad293.3
Pay-TV programming services707.01851,029.7888.0
Online video services716.1330489.3843
Film exhibition–104122.7191.9
Digital games385.62,90083.1107
Music services1,311.6805629.2961
Newspapers757.4856653.41,350.1
Online news median/aan/aa557.0n/aa
Magazines230.6325–442.2
Books–326591.1574.8
Total4,719.56,5445,682.57,701

Comments: Currency conversions conducted with Claude Sonnet 4, based on average conversion rates for 2022. All figures reflect domestic market revenues, except where this distinction was difficult, for example, the Finnish gaming market. Magazine revenues include trade press revenues in Denmark and Finland, while this is mostly excluded from the Swedish figures. Music services include traditional and online revenue.

a Included in newspaper revenue.

b Included in Pay-TV programming services, which also includes streaming services like Netflix and Disney+.

c Included in broadcasting revenues.

d Included in public service broadcasting.

Dashes indicate that data were not available.

Source: Government reports; trade press reports; annual reports

Table 5

Internet advertising revenues, 2018–2022 (million EUR).

20182019202020212022
Denmark943.51,079.41,086.71,475.51,687.8
Finland421460528637700
Norway1,491.31,661.41,596.11,949.02,357.7
Sweden2,053.42,378.82,675.23,354.43,354.3
Total4,909.25,579.65,886.07,415.98,099.8

[i] Comments: Currency conversions conducted with Claude Sonnet 4, based on average conversion rates for 2022. Danish, Norwegian, and Swedish data originate from the same source, IRM, while Finnish data is extracted from the Finnish Advertising Council and Kantar Media, which could explain the discrepancy in numbers.

[ii] Source: Statista; IAB Europe; The Norwegian Media Authority; Adex Benchmark Report 2018– 2023; IRM; Finnish Advertising Council; Kantar Media

Table 6

Concentration measures (CR4 and HHI) for content media sectors, 2022

DenmarkFinlandNorwaySweden
CR4HHICR4HHICR4HHICR4HHI
Commercial television broadcastingn/aan/aa93.72,991100–99.92,998
Public service broadcasting1007,40710010,0001005,2461008,585
Commercial broadcast radio984,57977.63,586––97.54,061
Public service broadcast radio––10010,000––10010,000
Pay-TV programming services975,89954.92,40886.32,41589.73,092
Online video services832,04760.71,56376.11,63573.81,957
Film exhibition––83.75,056––88.64,632
Traditional music12.550––––––
Online music823,132––––––
Games––80.63,269––44.92,100
Newspapers75.81,87259.42,216–2,95881.82,602
Magazines893,091––––52.6929
Online news media––––––––
Books––64.81,689––49.4883

Comments: Based on revenue.

a Included in pay-TV programming services.

Dashes indicate that data were not available.

Source: The Norwegian Media Authority; The Norwegian Telecommunications Authority; European Audiovisual Observatory; The Swedish Agency for the Media; The Swedish Post and Telecommunications Authority; The Finnish Advertising Council; Kantar Media; Statistics Finland; TNS Gallup; News Media Finland; Neogames, Danish Ministry of Culture; Rambøll; PwC; Statista; MediaWatch; annual reports; government reports; trade press reports

Table 7

Concentration measures (CR4 and HHI) for core Internet sectors, 2022

DenmarkFinlandNorwaySweden
CR4HHICR4HHICR4HHICR4HHI
Social media94.43,27190.93,419954,87893.24,878
Search engine mobile99.59,65099.69,5661009,64499.79,644
Search engine desktop99.68,18399.27,8241009,43199.69,431
Mobile OS1005,36199.35,2781005,2451005,009
Desktop OS99.65,21398.95,9261005,59598.84,966
Browser mobile98.74,76097.84,360994,49298.34,165
Browser desktop96.75,13796.14,646973,90696.24,414

[i] Comments: Based on usage.

[ii] Source: Statcounter; Statista; Reuters Institute; Nordicom; IRM

Figure A1

The telecoms, media, and Internet sectors covered by the GMIC Project

Table A1

Cross-country and cross-sector comparison level

CategoryLevel of comparability across the NordicsDominating type of sources
WirelineRobustOfficial data
WirelessRobustOfficial data
Internet service provisionRobustOfficial data
Multichannel video distributionRobustOfficial data
Broadcast televisionTentativeAnnual reports, tax reviews, and market data
Pay-TV programming servicesTentativeMarket data
Online video servicesTentativeMarket data
Film exhibitionTentativeMarket data
Digital gamesTentativeMarket data
Broadcast radioRobustAnnual reports, official reports, and market data
Music servicesTentativeMarket data
NewspapersModerately robustAnnual reports, official reports, and market data
MagazinesTentativeAnnual reports and market data
BooksModerately robustAnnual reports and market data
Internet advertisingTentativeMarket data and estimations
App distributionTentativeMarket estimations
Search engines – mobileTentativeMarket estimations
Search engines – desktopTentativeMarket estimations
Search enginesTentativeMarket estimations
Social media platformsTentativeMarket estimations
Mobile OSTentativeMarket estimations
Desktop OSTentativeMarket estimations
Mobile browsersTentativeMarket estimations
Desktop browsersTentativeMarket estimations
Mergers & acquisitionsRobustAnnual reports, market data
DOI: https://doi.org/10.2478/nor-2026-0006 | Journal eISSN: 2001-5119 | Journal ISSN: 1403-1108
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Language: English
Page range: 98 - 125
Published on: Apr 24, 2026
Published by: University of Gothenburg Nordicom
In partnership with: Paradigm Publishing Services
Keywords:
concentration,
Internet,
media industries,
Nordics,
political economy,
revenue
Related subjects:
Social sciences,
Communication science,
Mass communication,
Public and political communication

© 2026 Helle Sjøvaag, Morten Falch, Reza Tadayoni, Mikko Grönlund, Tobias Lindberg, published by University of Gothenburg Nordicom
This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 License.

Volume 47 (2026): Issue 1 (January 2026)
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