Mass media in the Netherlands
Mass media in the Netherlands – television, radio, newspapers, magazines – are characterised by a tradition of politico-denominational segregation on the one hand and an increasing degree of commercialism on the other.
Television and radio
Television and radio are provided by a system of public-broadcasting organisations together with a number of commercial channels.Public service broadcasting
The Netherlands Public Broadcasting system arose from the former practice – known as "pillarisation" – in which the country's various religious and social groups all organised their own institutions, with financial help from the government. These institutions included broadcasting. Although the system of pillarisation largely collapsed in the 1970s, the broadcasting associations themselves have remained active. Most have several tens of thousands of members, and they are allocated broadcasting time on the public channels in proportion to the size of their memberships. In addition, a number of other broadcasting foundations, established by the government, also receive air time.The system is financed from three sources:
- grant-in-aid payments from the government, raised from general taxation;
- the income from on-air advertising, regulated by the Stichting Ether Reclame, a public body;
- the dues paid by members of the broadcasting associations.
There are also several provincial television channels, which are organised by the provinces.
| Full name | Abbreviation | Status | Orientation | Website |
| Algemene Vereniging Radio Omroep | AVRO | Association | Liberal / neutral | |
| Bart's Neverending Network | BNN | Association | Youth | |
| Evangelische Omroep | EO | Association | Orthodox Protestant | |
| Katholieke Radio Omroep | KRO | Association | catholic | |
| Omroepvereniging MAX | MAX | Association | Older viewers | |
| Nederlandse Christelijke Radio Vereniging | NCRV | Association | Protestant | |
| Publieke Omroep Weldenkend Nederland En Dergelijke | PowNed | Association | Rebellious / Right wing | |
| Televisie Radio Omroep Stichting | TROS | Association | Neutral | |
| Omroepvereniging VARA | VARA | Association | Social-democratic | |
| Vrijzinnig Protestantse Radio Omroep | VPRO | Association | Liberal | |
| Wakker Nederland | WNL | Association | Conservative / right wing | |
| Nederlandse Omroep Stichting | NOS | Foundation | News / sport | |
| Stichting NTR | NTR | Foundation | Educational | |
| Boeddhistische Omroep Stichting | BOS | foundation | Buddhist | |
| Humanistische Omroep | HO | foundation | Humanist | |
| Interkerkelijke Omroep Nederland | IKON | foundation | Nine small Christian churches | |
| Joodse Omroep | JO | foundation | Jewish | |
| Nederlandse Islamitische Omroep | NIO | foundation | Islamic | |
| Nederlandse Moslim Omroep | NMO | foundation | Islamic | |
| Omrop Fryslân | OF | foundation | West Frisian language | |
| Organisatie Hindoe Media | OHM | foundation | Hindu | |
| Zendtijd voor Politieke Partijen | PP | foundation | Political parties represented in the Dutch parliament | |
| Rooms-Katholiek Kerkgenootschap | RKK | foundation | Catholic | |
| Stichting Ether Reclame | STER | foundation | Commercial advertising | |
| Zendtijd voor Kerken | ZvK | foundation | Church services |
Commercial broadcasting
was banned until the late 1980s. In the 1970s, before they were allowed to join the public television system, Veronica and TROS had broadcast as off-shore pirate stations. In the 1980s the RTL Group started broadcasting from Luxembourg. In 1988 commercial broadcasting was legalised. Currently there are seven larger channels owned by two companies. owns RTL 4, RTL 5, RTL 7, RTL 8 and RTL Z, while , the Finish publisher Sanoma and Dutch television production company Talpa own SBS 6, SBS 9, NET 5 and Veronica. There are also other networks present, offering speciality channels. Among them are Discovery Benelux, Viacom Media, Fox Channels, Disney-ABC and Time Warner.Newspapers
All newspapers are privately owned. They were historically linked to the pillarisation system, with some titles having strong links to labour unions or political parties. These ties have all been severed now. Two companies play a large role: Medialaan - De Persgroep Publishing, which owns several newspapers; and Telegraaf Media Groep, which owns De Telegraaf and Sp!ts, a free newspaper.The most important papers are the populist right-wing tabloid De Telegraaf, the progressive liberal NRC Handelsblad, which also publishes nrc•next, the Protestant Trouw and the progressive left-wing De Volkskrant. The latter two newspaper won in consecutive years the prestigious award for being the best nationwide newspaper in Europe at the European Newspaper Award.
Smaller Protestant communities have their own paper, like the Nederlands Dagblad and the Reformatorisch Dagblad. The business community has the Het Financieele Dagblad. A recent phenomenon are the widely read free newspapers Spits and the Metro. There are also several local and regional newspapers. The Algemeen Dagblad, the third largest paper, recently merged with several local papers to form a hybrid national-local paper.
Websites
Most broadcasting and newspapers organizations have online presence. Some organizations publish exclusively online, such as NU.nl, Tweakers, Dumpert and GeenStijl.Magazines
Magazines were, like the other media, frequently connected to pillars, such as Beatrijs, a Catholic woman's weekly. The main news magazines are the left-wing Vrij Nederland and De Groene Amsterdammer and the more right-wing Elsevier and HP/De Tijd.Some 1970 Dutch magazines formerly owned by Verenigde Nederlandse Uitgeverijen were sold to by the Finnish media group Sanoma. Apart from many typical Dutch ones like Margriet, Libelle and Nieuwe Revu, these include Donald Duck and the Dutch edition of Playboy.