Royal Danish Library DR-arkivet (Danish Broadcasting Corporation Programmes Archive)

Overview

The DR-arkivet is Royal Danish Library's online archive of television and radio programmes from Danmarks Radio (DR), the Danish Broadcasting Corporation. It is one of the most significant broadcasting archives in Scandinavia, providing Danish citizens free online access to decades of public broadcasting heritage.

History and Background

The Royal Danish Library began systematically collecting DR broadcasts in 1987 under an agreement with DR, whereby DR was required to submit its complete output from national and regional channels in the form of control tapes. Following the end of DR's television monopoly in 1988, the library also began collecting TV 2 broadcasts, and subsequently other Danish channels. Radio news bulletin manuscripts from DR cover the period April 1937 to 30 September 2006. Since December 2005, broadcasts have been collected digitally. The DR-arkivet online platform was publicly launched, initially covering programmes from 2006 to 2024—approximately one million broadcasts—with an ongoing project to extend coverage backwards to 1931 and include older digitised content.

Collections and Holdings

DR-arkivet currently contains TV and radio broadcasts from 1950 to 2024, with more content being added continuously. From 1987 onwards, the collection is nearly complete; earlier content is sparser, as DR historically archived broadcasts selectively and reused expensive physical tapes. The archive covers DR's full range of channels, including national and regional broadcasts. Programmes can be searched by title, channel, date, description, and category.

Notable Materials Related to Journalism and Media

The DR-arkivet represents a comprehensive record of Danish public broadcasting history, including news programmes, documentary journalism, current affairs, cultural programming, and historical broadcasts. Radio news bulletin manuscripts dating from 1937 provide a unique primary source for researchers of Danish media history and journalism.

Access and Usage

The DR-arkivet is accessible to all Danish citizens at kb.dk/dr-arkivet. Educational institutions and museums may access the archive under agreements with Copydan. Physical viewing of all broadcasts (including non-digitised materials) is available at Royal Danish Library locations in Copenhagen and Aarhus and at the Danish Film Institute.