The remainder came from commercial activities such as programme and DVD sales, spin-off products, and certain types of sponsorships.

From the start of 2020, NRK funding is an item in the national budget and the costs are covered through taxation for each individual liable for income taxes in Norway.

[6] Kringkastingsselskapet A/S, a privately owned company and the predecessor of NRK, started regular radio broadcasts in Norway in 1925.

Based on a model similar to that of the BBC and located in Oslo, it was a replacement for privately operated radio stations in larger cities.

[citation needed] During the Nazi German occupation, Norwegian transmitters were used to broadcast Nazi German war propaganda to Northern Europe (particularly Scotland and the northern half of Ireland, where the sea path ensured a good signal) and Scandinavia.

[8][9][10] NRK claimed to have the longest-running radio show, Lørdagsbarnetimen (The Saturday Children's Hour), which ran from 20 December 1924 until 11 September 2010.

[11] In 2019, work began to find the best site for a new building,[12] and in 2020 the property on Marienlyst was sold to Ferd Eiendom for NOK 3.75 billion.

[13][14] Close to 100 different locations were considered for the new head office,[15] but Gamle Oslo, Bryn, Storo Løren, Lillestrøm-Puls and Lilleaker were the most relevant options.

Director of relocation Jon Espen Lohne in NRK, said in 2020 that they have ambitions to get the country to choose a site before the end of the year.

[18] The CEO began major organisational changes in 2008, with the aim of creating a more agile NRK, while still adhering to the principles of the broadcaster-producer model introduced in January 2001.

[citation needed] By January 2009, the number of programme-producing divisions had been reduced from five to three, separated more along geographical than functional lines, and at the same time simplifying trading in the internal market.

[citation needed] The programme-producing divisions are: Vibeke Fürst Haugen has been director-general of the Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation since 29 April 2022.

The previous directors were Olav Midttun (1934–1947, except during the Nazi occupation), Kaare Fostervoll (1948–1962), Hans Jacob Ustvedt (1962–1971), Torolf Elster (1972–1981), Bjartmar Gjerde (1981–1988), Einar Førde (1989–2001), John G. Bernander (2001–2007),[19] Hans-Tore Bjerkaas (2007–2012) and Thor Gjermund Eriksen (2012-2022).

The current director-general, Vibeke Fürst Haugen, came from the position of director of the Marienlyst-division of NRK in Oslo.

[28] Yle Mondo, which broadcasts on FM in the greater Helsinki area, carries half an hour of unspecified NRK radio shows in Norwegian on weekdays at 13:30 as of November 2023.