Previously, the US Army had operated a radio station at Keflavík Airport during the Second World War.
Due to differences between frequencies and standards, Icelanders either modified their sets or received the television station via its FM signal.
The license was subject to the conditions that the power of the broadcast was limited to 50 watts and an attempt was made to direct the beam to the station itself.
By 1960, the transmitter's power increased, enabling a larger reach and concerns about an American cultural invasion in the coverage area.
[3] In 1959, two members of the People's Alliance presented a proposal to close the television station, but it was not accepted.
In Keflavik, local programming was extremely limited, as no trained technicians existed at the time.
[1] When RÚV started broadcasting in 1966, the producers of television content in the United States expressed the opinion that the defense forces' television station should pay similar fees for the broadcast of purchased content, since the audience in Iceland was larger than that of the defense station itself.
On September 15, 1967, television broadcasts were limited so that they could only be received in Suðurnes and the southern part of Hafnarfjörður.
On November 16, 1969, 22 members of the Youth Front (Æskulýðsfylkingin - later merged into the People's Alliance) stormed the television station's studio, painted "Che Guevara" and "Viva Cuba" on the walls and on cameras, and shouted anti-Vietnam war slogans ("Vietnam will win").
In November 1974, there was a lot of controversy in the parliament about Albert Guðmundsson's motion for a parliamentary resolution, which discussed, among other things, the opening of towns for Keflavík TV broadcasts.
RÚV's television service was excluded due to a lack of an agreement with the corporation and concerns over licence fees.
With its launch, newscasters no longer awaited for shipments of footage coming from ABC World News Tonight and UPI's video wire service.