Media of the Netherlands

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Life in the Netherlands
Cuisine
Culture
Customs
Demographics
Economy
Education
Holidays
Languages
Media
Politics
Religion
Sport
Taxation
Transport
Specific policies: Abortion Drug policy Euthanasia Prostitution Same-sex marriage Pillarisation
edit box

The media in the Netherlands – television, radio, newspapers, magazines – are characterized by a tradition of "pillarization" on the one hand and an increasing degree of commercialization on the other.

Contents 1 Television and radio 1.1 Public-service broadcasting 1.2 Commercial broadcasting 2 Newspapers and Magazines

[edit] Television and radio

Main article: Television networks in the Netherlands

For a full list of television channels see List of Dutch television channels

Television and radio are provided by a system of public-broadcasting organizations (sharing three television and five radio networks) together with a number of commercial channels.

[edit] Public-service broadcasting

The public-service broadcasting system in the Netherlands arose from the former practice of pillarization, in which the country's various religious and social groups all organized their own institutions, with financial help from the government. These institutions included broadcasting. Although the system of pillarization 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, 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 (STER), a public body;
• (a small porportion of the total) the dues paid by members of the broadcasting associations.

The broadcasting associations share three national television channels (Nederland 1, Nederland 2, Nederland 3) and five radio channels (Radio 1, Radio 2, 3FM, Radio 4, Radio 5). Each of these channels has its own profile: thus Nederland 1 is oriented towards news, sport, and family programming, Nederland 2 towards culture, arts, politics, and religion, while Nederland 3 concentrates on youth and progressive programming.

There are also several provincial television channels, which are organized by the provinces