Posted: Tue., Jan. 30, 2007, 5:52am PT

NRK hires Bjerkaas as broadcasting chief

Exec joined Norwegian broadcaster in 1977

By Pia Lundberg

STOCKHOLM — Hans Tore Bjerkaas has been upped to director of broadcasting at Norwegian pubcaster NRK.

Following a stint as a top level soccer player in Norway, Bjerkaas joined NRK as a TV and radio journalist in 1977.

Since 1986, he has held a number of different managerial positions at the web, except for a single year spent working at Norwegian commercial channel TV2.

Bjerkaas replaces John Bernander and takes up his post on March 13.