Avro Television (AKN)
www.avro.nl
webmaster@avro.nl

Ikon
www.ikon.nl
ikon@ikon.nl

KRO Television (AKN)
www.omroep.nl/kro
kro@omroep.nl

NCRV Television (AKN)
www.ncrv.nl
webmaster@ncrv.nl

NOS (Channel 1, 2, 3)
www.omroep.nl
eurovisie@rtv.nos.nl

Omroepvereniging Vara/Vara
www.vara.nl
acquisition@vara.nl
ecquisition@vara.nl

RVU
www.rvu.nl

Teleac/NOT
www.teleac/not.nl

Tros-Television (Channel 2)
www.omroep.nl/tros
publiekservice@tros.nl

VPRO-TV
www.vpro.nl
info@vpro.nl

Educational Broadcasting Corporation Teleac (NOT)
teleacnot@omroep.nl

Fox
www.fox8.nl
info@foxkids.nl

Netherlands (population 15,900,000) 

Private commercial channels surfaced in Holland for the first time in the late 80s. Luxembourg CLT/RTL emerged in Dutch in ’89, and RTL-4 absorbed 25% of viewing within twelve months; RTL-5 appeared in 1993, and a further five channels followed in ’95. Public TV waned, and waned and they now have just 39% of audience share, much of which owes more to their monopoly on football coverage than market-sensitive or imaginative programming. Nederland 1, 2 and 3 comprise VARA, KRO, NCRV, VPRO, AVRO, EO (evangelical), TROS, BNN (small, youth-oriented), NOS (bureaucratic and not a member, therefore not as strictly bound by the public service remit), and NPS (cultural). Five-year concessions are RENEWABLE IN 2005.

35% of public programming must be deemed educational, and 25% cultural, of which 13%+ must cover the arts. Nice remit for producers such as eSCape tv.

Nederland 1 is moralistic and serious, and carries AVRO, KRO and NCRV.

Nederland 2 targets families, youth and sports fans, carrying TROS, EO, BNN,  NOS Sports and Teleac educational programming.

Nederland 3 houses is culturally and intellectually inclined, with VARA, VPRO and NPS.

There has been no licence in Holland for over four years, and public TV is three-quarters-funded through direct taxation (income tax), with the remaining 25% derived from advertising. Yearly budgets are fixed and index-linked to avoid politicisation.

There are also eight commercial channels operating, but ownership is often offshore, with the Holland Media Group (HMG) owned by Bertelsmann/CLT (28% stake through RTL-4, RTL-5 and Yorin), and SBS, a Swedish-American group (19% stake through SBS-6, Net-5 and V-8).

TMF, Holland’s music channel was bought out by MTV four years ago and enjoys a 0.5% market share.

Globally, public broadcasters relay information where their commercial counterparts purvey entertainment. The figures are as follows: public sector TV: Information 54%, 27% Entertainment, 41% of which in Dutch and 12% Education. In contrast, the private sector pedals 59% Entertainment of which 42% is imported from the States, 26% Information and 2% Education.

RTL-4 and RTL-5 are technically based in Luxembourg, but there can be no doubt that they target a Dutch market. RTL-4 is reassuring and family-oriented, and correspondingly a firm favourite with housewives. RTL-5 woos mainly adult males with cinema, news, sport, reality TV and of course erotic content, but is something of a chameleon during daylight hours, concentrating instead on the rise and fall of stocks and share prices on the stock exchange, under the banner of RTL-Z. Big Brother (conceived by Endemol, which is owned by Telefónica in Spain) started here. Ironic, when one considers that the Dutch invented the speed camera; eSCape tv ’s subtly voyeuristic approach to street filming might receive some attention from Dutch TV generally, particularly since many of our most unassuming, unselfconscious sequences were actually accidents, since the camera was following another object, such as a moving vehicle or zooming in on the interior of a tram etc. while passengers were boarding. In a few words, our coverage is frequently natural and spontaneous because it was unintentional to begin with!

Yorin is elitist in targeting ‘modern human beings’ (cinema, drama, reality shows) and SBS-6 is family-oriented. Net 5 aims at intelligent, discerning females and V-8 targets teenagers around 6-7pm and then shows action movies.

Cable has a 12% market share, and as well as regional and minority channels, the preparers of packages are obliged to include Belgian, UK and German public channels, along with RAI Uno, CNN, CNBC, BBC World, Eurosport, Euronews, MTV, The Box, TRT, Discovery, National Geographic and Cartoon Network.

Regionally, there are thirteen local stations in the Netherlands; Canal Plus (Vivendi) is unpopular, and digital television has made little headway due to the impressive gamut of services available for free. Finally, here are the figures:

Public

Nederland 1               13%

Nederland 2               17%

Nederland 3               9%

Private

RTL-4                         16%

RTL-5                         4.5%

Yorin                           7%

SBS-6                                    11%

V-8                              3%

Net 5                           5%