Belgischer Rundfilmk
www.brf.be
info@brf.be

libertytv.com
www.libertytv.com
info@libertytv.com

Radio Télévision Belge de la Communauté Française (RTBF)
www.rtbf.be
eurovision@rtbf.be

Antenne Centre
www.antennecentre.be
antennecentre@antennecentre.be
culture@antennecentre.be
technique@antennecentre.be
Réalisateurs:
pascal.auvertus@antennecentre.be
didier.devos@antennecentre.be
yves.lobry@antennecentre.be

Canal Zoom
www.canalzoom.com
courrier@canalzoom.com

NO Télé
www.notele.be
notele@notele.be

RTC Télé Liège
www.rtc.be
info@rtc.be
b.heuse@rtc.be

TV Comm
tvcom.journal@online.be

Télé Brussels
info@telebrussels.be

Télé Bruxelles
www.telebruxelles-on-line.irisnet.be

Télésambre
telesambre@charline.be

Télévesdre
www.televesdre.be
televesdre@televesdre.be

Télévision mons borinage
+32 – 65.40 00 40

TV Brussel
www.tv-brussel.irisnet.be

Belgium (population 10,000,000)

The televisual landscape in Belgium is split into two clearly defined, autonomous markets: Wallonia (French-speaking) and Flanders (Flemish-speaking). 1960 saw the advent of the BRT in Flanders, and the RTBF in Wallonia, and in 1997 Belgischer Fernsehen und Rundfunk was established for the country’s German-speaking population.

98% of households have cable, and both national and foreign TV have been relayed to most households for some time. Commercial TV was legalised in 1987 in Wallonia, and two years later in Flanders.

Flanders

Public broadcaster VRT was challenged in 1989 by the private concern VTM (Vlaamse Televisie Maatschappi), and consequently lost a large portion of its audience almost immediately: in 1995, VRT had just a 29% stake in the market, with VTM on 44%. However, in 1997 most of VRT’s crucial staff were sacked, red tape was slashed and at present VRT attracts 32% of viewers, with VTM on 37%.

VTM’s monopoly on commercial broadcasting came to an end in 1994, with the launch of VT-4, which was officially London-based. VT-4 started out exclusively in Dutch, but after failing to reach expectations turned Flemish in 2002. VT-4 is on the verge of bankruptcy.

VTM had already usurped much of VT-4’s audience before it started broadcasting, with the pre-emptive launch of a second channel, known as K-2.

Competition amongst more recently-launched thematic channels is fierce; these include Vitaya (lifestyle), TMF and JIM-TV (music), Kanal Z (business/finance) and Libert.com (travel). There is simply not enough advertising revenue available to go round.

Public service provider VRT reacted strongly to the appearance of VTM, by taking a populist stance on prime time broadcasts. Two separate channels were subsequently born: TV-1, which is generalist and populist, and Canvas, which is more esoteric. TV-1 and  VTM differ little during prime time hours and K-2 and VT-4 both reel out endless entertainment shows and US serials.

In Flanders, eSCape tv is expected to be subtitled in Dutch. VTM also owns the radio station Q-Music, which flounders in competition with VRT-radio. Public TV cannot carry advertising in Flanders, but sponsorship is deemed an acceptable compromise; it is therefore underfunded in comparison with Scandinavian equivalents, for example.

The TV licence died in 2002 in Flanders. Regional TV has been around since 1992, and 11 stations are part-public and partly private sector-funded, but many are struggling. Backers of regional TV include RUG, De Persgroep and Roularta (also in trouble), and even Canal Plus Televisie is finding survival difficult in the present climate.

Public

VRT TV-1       23.4%

TV2/Canvas   8.2%

Private

VTM                30.1%

KA-2               7.7 %

VT-4                7.8%

Wallonia

Bureaucratic nightmares and political agendas have crippled French-speaking Belgian TV for some time, and the availability and preference of foreign stations serves only to compound the problem. In 1997 RTBF became an autonomous state enterprise, like VRT in Flanders. As a result of legislation passed in 2001, 75% of all RTBF broadcasts must be produced in one of several regional production centres, thereby prioritising decentralisation policy where the VRT have conquered pervading pressures.

The RTBF is keen to promote the territorial cultural interests of Belgium’s French-speaking community, and produces many of its own programmes.

Private sector competition emerged in the form of RTL-TV1 in 1987, which today broadcasts a lot of American content but has a remit to ensure that 33% of programmes are in French. Ownership is as follows: 66% RTL (CLT, Bertelsmann and Pearson), 34% French press. RTL may be powerful in Europe, but TF-1, FR-2 and FR-3 provide stiff competition from across the border with France. RTL-1 and RTBF worked together between 1989 and 1997 with respect to advertising revenue, and in 1995 a film channel, RTL Club (youth market, largely American content) was set up.

More recently, AB-3, Canal Z and other thematic channels have been established, and public sector-owned La Deux appeared in 1994. It is essentially an equivalent of VRT’s Canvas in Flanders, with support for minority audiences and cultural programming. La Une is, in contrast, generalist in nature and provides competition for RTL-TV1 during prime time.

Public

RTBF La Une            17.7%

RTBF La Deux          3.4%

Private

RTL-TV1        18.1%

Club RTL        5.6%

French

TF-1                16.9%

FR-2               10.1%

FR-3               6.3%

Source: CIM

Broadcasts in German

1977 saw the introduction of the Belgischer Rundfunk und Fernsehen (BRF) into the picture. Broadcasting hours are 6am to 10pm, after which time RTBF radio is transmitted. 12 radio stations complete the German-speaking broadcasting world in Belgium.