Television in the Netherlands

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Template:Short description Television in the Netherlands was officially introduced in 1951. In the Netherlands, the television market is divided between a number of commercial networks, such as RTL Nederland, and a system of public broadcasters sharing three channels, NPO 1, NPO 2, and NPO 3. Imported programmes (except those for children), as well as news interviews with responses in a foreign language, are almost always shown in their original language, with subtitles.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Reception

In the Netherlands, television can be watched analog or digital (the latter with the option of HDTV or UHD). Over 2018, 89.2% of Dutch viewers received television digitally.<ref name=SKO>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Analogue television is only available via some cable operators and some fiber to the home providers, since the Dutch government ended analogue reception via airwaves in 2006. Dutch largest cable company Ziggo began to phase out the analogue signal in 2018.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Watching digital television is possible through a variety of ways, the most common being:

Which television channels can be received is heavily dependent on the operator and in most cases also the channel package that is paid for. However, there is a small selection of channels that every operator must carry. Since 2014, these are the following channels:<ref name=Kabelraad>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Public channels

The Netherlands has three nationwide channels for publicly funded television (NPO). These channels can only make a fixed maximum amount of money from commercials. These commercials never interrupt broadcasts, and are only shown in between shows. The broadcasting organisations that use these channels are basically representative of the Dutch society. Every broadcasting company has members and the number of members gives them a status that is connected to the number of hours of broadcasting. Acceptance or refusal of entry is decided politically on the guidance of public opinion.

In 2005, there was a sharp political debate over government plans to cut funding to public broadcasters and to abolish statutory broadcaster NPS.

National

The three national television channels are:

Thematic

The three digital television channels that are provided by the Nederlandse Publieke Omroep organisation, are:

International

There is also an international public channel:

  • BVN, It shows the best of Dutch public television for Dutch viewers abroad. It was also formerly shared with Belgium's publicly funded Flemish television channel VRT.

Regional

Most regions and provinces have their own television channel as well. These also receive government funding:

Commercial channels

RTL Nederland

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Talpa Network

Paramount Networks EMEAA

Warner Bros. Discovery

The Walt Disney Company

VodafoneZiggo

AMC Networks International

NBCUniversal International Networks

SPI International

BBC Studios

A&E Networks

Stingray Digital

Muziekkiosk

RadioCorp BV

Other

The following (international) commercial channels broadcast localized versions of their programs:

Foreign domestic channels

While there are many localised versions of international channels meant for the Dutch market, many television providers also broadcast 'domestic television' networks as part of the basic subscription package. Other 'domestic' channels may be received as part of extended packages. Many basic subscriptions include:

Belgium

United Kingdom

Germany

France

Italy

Spain

Other

High-definition

In the Netherlands customers can receive high-definition television channels by cable or satellite. Until 2018 there was no terrestrial HD service available. KPN started to switch its digital terrestrial television platform to the DVB-T2 HEVC standard in October 2018,<ref name="dvbt">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> this transition completed on 9 July 2019.<ref name="dvbt2">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

The first trials with high-definition television in the Netherlands began in 2006 with the broadcast of the 2006 World Cup in HD. After the trial the larger cable companies continued a HD service with a small number of channels such as National Geographic Channel HD, Discovery HD Showcase, History HD, Film1 HD and Sport1 HD. The demand for HD was low because no Dutch network had made the move to HD. Broadcasting in widescreen and the quality of the standard-definition PAL signal was good enough for most people.

Since the 2006 trials, none of the main Dutch networks made the move to HD. This changed in the summer of 2008 when from 1 June 2008 until 24 August 2008, the Netherlands Public Broadcasting (NPO) organisations made their primary channel, Nederland 1 temporary available in HD. This made it possible to broadcast Euro 2008, the 2008 Tour de France, and the 2008 Summer Olympics in HD and additionally allowed them to test their systems before the scheduled launch of their permanent HD service in early 2009. The NPO planned to launch their permanent HD service with HD versions of their three channels Nederland 1, Nederland 2, and Nederland 3. Most of the programming in the early stages consisted of upscaled material from their SD channels as in time more programs became available in HD.<ref name="marketingfactsnpohd">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Template:Ill, the company responsible for the technical realisation of the broadcasts of the NPOs television and radio channels, began the summer 2008 test broadcast of Nederland 1 HD in 720p/50 as the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) recommends. During the test period an additional 1080i/25 version of the channel was made available to the cable companies because of quality complaints from viewers. In 2009 the NPO decided to adopt the 1080i/25 HD standard.<ref name="1080i">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

The main commercial broadcasting organizations in the Netherlands the SBS Broadcasting Group (Net5, SBS6, Veronica) and the channels of RTL Nederland followed in HD via cable and satellite, using the same HD standard as the NPO.

Ultra-high-definition

The first television channels in 4K UHD were officially launched in the Netherlands in 2017. In April 2017, satellite provider CanalDigitaal added Insight TV 4K UHD in its channel line-up.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> After more than a year of testing, KPN launched ultra-high-definition television on 1 July 2017, with Xite 4K and Hispasat 4K TV.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Eurosport 4K launched in the Netherlands on 5 June 2018.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> NPO 1 launched its first trials with ultra-high-definition television through KPN, CanalDigitaal and some minor networks on 14 June 2018, using the HLG standard.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Ziggo Sport is available in UHD from March 2021.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Defunct or rebranded channels

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  • Fox (19 August 2013 - 31 October 2023), rebranded by Star Channel (1 November 2023 - present)
  • Fox Kids (2 August 1995 – 13 February 2005), rebranded by Jetix (13 February 2005 – 1 January 2010) followed by Disney XD (1 January 2010 – 1 May 2025)
  • Fox Life (7 September 2009 – 31 December 2016)
  • Fox Sports Eredivisie, 3 pay-TV channels (29 August 2008 – 1 January 2021), rebranded by ESPN
  • Fox Sports International 3 pay-TV channels (17 August 2013 – 1 January 2021), rebranded by ESPN
  • Garuda TV
  • Geschiedenis 24 (formerly Geschiedenis)
  • GoedTV (April 2006 – 6 December 2015)
  • Hallmark Channel (June 1995 – 20 July 2011)
  • HBO 1/2/3 (9 February 1990 – 31 December 2016)
  • Het Gesprek (2 October 2007 – 22 August 2010)
  • JimJam (10 October 2006 – 1 March 2018)
  • Kindernet (1 March 1988 –2 September 2003, 4 April 2011 – 1 November 2013)
  • Magic Club (13 January 1995 - 1 January 1996)
  • Magic Kids (12 January 1995 - 31 October 2006)
  • Mannen 24 (2 May 2002 - 10 April 2013) Formerly Men and Motors
  • MGM Channel (2001 – 6 November 2014), replaced by AMC (6 November 2014 – 31 December 2018)
  • MisdaadNet (1 July 2008 – 1 September 2011), replaced by RTL Crime (1 September 2011 – present)
  • Motors TV (1 September 2000 – 28 February 2017), rebranded by Motorsport.tv (1 March 2017 – 30 September 2018)
  • MTV 90s
  • MTV Brand New (1 August 2006 - 31 January 2021), replaced by MTV Hits (1 February 2021 - present)
  • MTV Hits
  • MTV Live
  • MTV Music 24 (1 September 2011 - 26 May 2021), replaced by MTV 90s (26 May 2021 - present)
  • NBC Super Channel (30 January 1987 – 30 June 1998), replaced by National Geographic (1 July 1998 – present)
  • Nederland 3
  • NiCK (1 February 1994 - 12 January 1995)
  • Nickelodeon Ukraine
  • NostalgieNet (1 January 2006 – 13 September 2015), rebranded by ONS (13 September 2015 – present)
  • NPO 3 Extra (31 October 2006 – 25 December 2018), between 2006 and 2014 named 101 TV and between 2014 and 2018 named NPO 101.
  • NPO Doc (1 December 2004 as Holland Doc 24 – 1 July 2016)
  • NPO Humor TV (15 November 2006 as Humor TV 24 – 1 July 2016)
  • NPO Nieuws (1 December 2004 as Journaal 24 ceased on 15 December 2021)
  • NPO Sport
  • NPO Zappelin Extra (30 May 2009 – 15 December 2021)
  • Revolt (1 November 2019 - 31 January 2021)
  • RTL-Véronique (2 October 1989 – 17 September 1990), rebranded by RTL 4 (18 September 1990 – present)
  • Spike (1 October 2015 - 24 May 2022), rebranded by Paramount Network (24 May 2022 - present)
  • Spelshows 24 (formerly Spelshowkanaal)
  • Spirit 24 (formerly Geloven)
  • Sport 7 (18 August 1996 – 8 December 1996)
  • Sportnet (29 March 1984 – 1 March 1993), merged with Eurosport (5 February 1989 – present)
  • Sterren 24 (formerly Sterren.nl)
  • Stingray Brava (2007 – 1 March 2019), replaced by Stingray Classica (1 March 2019 – present)
  • SuperSport (1995 – 1997), replaced by Canal+ (1997 – 2006) followed by Sport1 (1 February 2006 – 12 November 2015), rebranded by Ziggo Sport Totaal (12 November 2015 – present)
  • Syfy (30 May 2007 – 1 July 2016)
  • The Big Channel (1 February 1990 - 3 September 2001)
  • Talpa (13 August 2005 – 15 December 2005), rebranded by Tien (16 December 2005 – 17 August 2007) followed by RTL 8 (18 August 2007 – present)
  • TMF (1 May 1995 – 1 September 2011)
  • TMF Dance (1 May 2005 – 31 December 2011)
  • TMF NL (1 May 2005 – 31 December 2011)
  • TMF Pure (1 May 2005 – 31 December 2011)
  • TNT Classic Movies (17 September 1993 – 15 October 1999) rebranded by TCM (15 October 1999 – 1 January 2014)
  • TNT (24 January 2013 – 1 January 2014)
  • Travel Channel (1996<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation

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Television in other languages

To serve those who have another native language than Dutch, there are few television channels in the Netherlands broadcasting in one of the regional languages of The Netherlands. Those broadcasting in English usually target an international audience as well. Most of these channels broadcast through the internet only or have a very limited broadcasting area, with Omrop Fryslân as most notable exception. These channels are:

Timeline

Template:Timeline Dutch television

See also

References

Template:Reflist

Template:Television in the Netherlands Template:Television in Europe

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