Initially aired on radio in 1948, and later moving to television in 1966, it features sketches satirizing the news events of the past year.
[1] In 2002, it was reported that the special had been seen by 95.5% of the country; Páll Magnússon, CEO of RÚV stated that this was most likely a record in the Western world.
[2] Due to its high viewership, advertising time during Áramótaskaupið is the most expensive on Icelandic television.
[citation needed] Some of its sketches have become well known in Icelandic culture, such as its portrayal of Minister of Finance Ólafur Ragnar Grímsson as the Batman parody "Skattmann" ("Taxman").
[1] In 2009, the show featured a sketch about the protests following the 2008 Icelandic financial crisis, in which Jón Gnarr played a strait-laced middle-aged protester shouting "Helvítis fokking fokk!!".