Eurovision Goes Blink

Eurovision Goes Blink

Money & Finance, Newsfeed
The European Broadcasting Union , colloquially known as Eurovision, just signed an international TV rights agreement with the organizers of the Blink festival and it's a big deal: The EBU is agglomeration of public television channels across Europe, from Portugal to Russia, to collectively bargain for rights and to swap (mostly news-related) footage. "Public" means "funded by either a compulsory license fee or by subvention from a national parliament". For historical reasons, those are the most watched channels across the continent - and most likely to show the second tier sports I.e. popular but not popular enough for viewers to pay for, like football or Formula 1. The EBU is powerful and is ever interested in keeping ratings reasonably high to fight purely commercial channels. The Geneva-based bosses must have…
Read More
Vidar Løfshus, ex Boss Of Team Norway, Got New Job – And It Might Surprise You

Vidar Løfshus, ex Boss Of Team Norway, Got New Job – And It Might Surprise You

Leaders, Newsfeed
Vidar Løfshus did not go to work for the Chinese as many predicted after he resigned his commission earlier this year - instead he went to insurance company. Løfshus was the boss of the Norwegian cross-country national team from 2011 to 2019, and during his reign the team won 12 Olympic and 23 World Championships gold medal, possibly the best period in the history of the Norwegian xcskiing ever. His new employer is Fremtind Forsikring, newly formed insurance company, owned by SpareBank 1 and DNB - both of which were/are major sponsors of Team Norway. A 49-year old Løfshus, who has business administration degree, will be responsible for culture and performance development atthe company.
Read More
Northug Fan Goes On Epic Rant, Wakes Up Famous

Northug Fan Goes On Epic Rant, Wakes Up Famous

Leaders, Newsfeed
You reckon cross country skiing fans are some cold, reserved, distant bunch - a bit like their beloved sport? Think again then. Meet Lars Erik Saltrø, a home repair contractor from Trondheim in Norway who woke up famous this week after an epic rant he posted on his Facebook page. Over 100.000 people in Norway ( and, presumably Sweden and even Finland) viewed the video in which Lars Erik in rather animated fashion wishes “Merry Christmas to everyone – except two people” Those unfortunate two happened to be some household names in Norway: cross country ski team's manager Vidar Løfshus and team trainer Tor-Arne Hetland. So what's caused the ire of good ole Mr. Saltrø? In his minute long speech that invokes, among other things, names of Pol Pot and…
Read More