NRK kids veteran to exit

The head of acquisitions at the children’s department of NRK in Norway is leaving after 32 years at the public broadcaster.

Elin Raustøl

Elin Raustøl will retire later this month, having begun her career as a preschool teacher before moving into television at the children’s and youth department of NRK in the 1980s.

She became the pubcaster’s head of acquisitions for children’s programming in 1996 and has held the role ever since, becoming a familiar face on the kids’ TV market at events such as MipJunior.

NRK launched its dedicated children’s channel NRK Super in December 2007. Since then, Raustøl has acquired series such as The Amazing World of Gumball, Masha & the Bear, Mike the Knight, Dragons: Riders of Berk, Puffin Rock and Sarah & Duck for the channel.

The exec identified the importance of taking online catch-up rights to shows a decade ago, years before the rise of VoD companies such as Netflix had a colossal impact on the industry.

News of Raustøl’s departure has instigated a shake-up at NRK’s children’s department. Trine Ruud has been promoted from programme acquisitions executive to head of acquisitions and will take over from Raustøl on April 1.