New Delhi - Ambassade (En) - The Media in The Netherlands

The Media in The Netherlands

PRESS

The Dutch written press is comprised of daily newspapers, local newspapers and magazines. There are four major national newspapers: De Telegraaf (circulation 703,000 copies daily), Algemeen Dagblad (477,000) , De Volkskrant (269,000) and NRC/Handelsblad (232,000). In addition, many regional newspapers have a considerable readership. Local newspapers usually appear twice or thrice weekly and play an important role in the smaller municipalities as they keep people informed of the local news. The Dutch dailies are in the hands of a small number of publishing houses, the largest being the Perscombinatie with a 31% share of the market, followed by De Telegraaf with 25%, VNU with 18% and Wegener with 15%.

A relatively new phenomenon is the appearance of free daily newspapers that are distributed mainly on the public transport. Because they are free, these newcomers, that include Metro (539,000 copies daily), De Pers (491,000), Spits (452,000) and Dag (401,000), are becoming increasingly popular and are serious competitors to the established newspapers.

There are also many different types of magazines: news weeklies, popular magazines, radio and television guides and special interest magazines. The main news weeklies are Vrij Nederland, HP/De Tijd, Elsevier and De Groene Amsterdammer. Although their readership is in absolute numbers is not very big,they are relatively influential as they provide commentary on the news. The radio and television guides also have a wide readership; in addition to information on programming they contain articles on more general issues.

In 1974, the Press Fund was established to provide financial assistance to ailing newspapers or magazines. The assistance may consist of credits and/or grants and is usually temporary; the paper or magazine is expected to operate under its own steam again within a reasonable time period.

Related websites:

Newspapers (in Dutch)

Dutch Newspapers Online (overview)

Algemeen Dagblad

De Telegraaf

De Volkskrant

Het Financieele Dagblad

Magazines (in Dutch)

Vrij Nederland

De Groene Amsterdammer

Elsevier

HP / De Tijd

Dutch news websites (in English)

Dutch News Digest

Netherlands Post

News & community for expatriates

NIS news

Television

Public broadcasting

The Netherlands has had a public broadcasting system since the 1920s. Programs are provided by broadcasting associations that originally represented a clearly identifiable social or religious ideal or grouping. As such, the system is unique. In the early decades of their existence, these associations broadcasted on the radio, but when television became technologically possible, they also started to use this medium.

As the traditional cleavages in Dutch society have become less relevant during recent decades however, differences in societal background of broadcasting associations have lost a great deal of their importance. Nevertheless the system is still intact and new broadcasting associations have been set up during recent years.

The Netherlands has three nationwide channels for publicly-funded television. These are shared by a large number of non-profit broadcasting associations: Nederland1, Nederland2, and Nederland3. In addition, one television channel, BVN TV, is specifically targeting Dutch nationals who live abroad. Television networks are responsible for providing a complete range of programmes, encompassing news, information, the arts, education and entertainment. All broadcasting associations work together in the Netherlands Broadcasting System (NOS) and the NOS Program Foundation, which largely broadcasts arts, child and ethnic minority programmes. In addition, churches, religious and other organizations, political parties, governmental agencies and educational broadcasting companies are entitled to broadcasting time on the public system.

In addition to the three national television channels, the public broadcasting system consists of six radio stations. Moreover, there are also regional radio stations in every province, a limited number of regional television stations and around 400 local radio stations.

Public broadcasting is funded from government subsidies and advertising. Commercials are broadcast between programmes; advertising during programmes is not permitted on public channels.

Commercial broadcasting

Commercial broadcasting was first introduced in The Netherlands in 1992. Dutch-language commercial channels currently include RTL 4, RTL 5, RTL 7 and RTL 8 (which broadcast in Dutch from Luxembourg), NET 5, SBS 6, Veronica, and The Music Factory (TMF).

Practically all Dutch homes are linked to a cable network, which offers a wide range of Dutch and foreign commercial and public viewing. Foreign and international channels available on most cable networks include amongst others British BBC, Belgium Een and Ketnet/Canvas, French TV5, German ARD and ZDF, CNN, Animal Planet, Discovery Channel, Eurosport, MTV, National Geographic Channel and Nickelodeon.

Radio Netherlands

" Radio Netherlands Worldwide" is an independent radio station, which broadcasts radio programmes throughout the world for Dutch people who live abroad and for foreigners who are interested in The Netherlands and Dutch culture. The service broadcasts programmes daily in Dutch, English, Spanish, Bahasa Indonesia and Papiamento (the language spoken in the parts of the Kingdom of The Netherlands in the Caribbean). The radio programmes, which feature news and current affairs, sports reports and weather forecasts, are broadcast on the short and medium wave, on local FM wavelengths and by satellite. Television programmes are sold to foreign broadcasting companies. The Radio Netherlands Training Centre, part of the world service, trains programme makers from developing countries and is involved in cooperative projects throughout the world.