P1's programming is aimed at a broad mature demographic and it is Norway's most popular radio station, with approximately 1.9 million listeners daily.

With its long-standing monopoly, P1 has been important in Norway's broadcasting and cultural history, with well-known voices such as Alf Prøysen and Anne-Cath Vestly in Barnetimen, Otto Nilsen and Johan Borgen in Søndagsposten, Erik Bye, Rolf Kirkvaag and Halfdan Hegtun.

The administration of the channel as well as many of the newsrooms and broadcast studios were later moved to NRK's center at Tyholt in Trondheim.

NRK P1 also formerly transmitted in longwave at 153 kHz via the Ingøy radio transmitter (opened in 2000, closed 2 December 2019 12:06 AM CET), which served the country's fishing fleet in the Barents Sea.

Arouca and AZ Alkmaar in the 2023-24 UEFA Europa Conference League qualifiers were simulcast on P1 Hordaland and NRK Sport.