Finance
Every year, the Dutch public broadcasting system is allocated funds from the Ministry of Education, Culture and Science. In 2018 the allocation was 794 millionHistory
The closed system (1920–1960)
Since the very beginning in the early 1920s, public broadcasting in the Netherlands has been split into different broadcasting associations with their members composed of listeners and viewers. These associations were based on the different ideological sections of Dutch society, called ''Verzuiling'' (The closed system opens up (1960–1990)
With the arrival of illegal offshore commercial radio stations, such asThe start of private media (1990–2000)
In anticipation of the launch of new commercial satellite channels, a third television network,Diversification, expansion and the creation of the NPO (2000–2010)
Under the new "open system" any company can become a broadcasting company and obtain radio and TV airtime. The only requirement is to request official status from the government and to have enough members. Broadcasting companies in the Netherlands must ensure every year they have enough members to retain their official status, and most of them sell TV guides or other magazines and make every subscriber a member of their organization. Many people question whether the current system is still appropriate in this age of digital broadcasting. There were plans in the run-up to the 2002 general election to change the way broadcast companies are selected, and to abolish the member-based system completely. Vocal critics includedCuts to the public system (2010–present)
On 18 January 2010, Henk Hagoort, chairman of the NPO Management Board, announced a scaling back of the number of broadcasting associations using the public airwaves to 15 by 2015. He also warned of the threat of political parties which could influence programming in the public broadcasting system. In September 2010 cuts to the public system took effect, with the existing eleven full-time broadcasting associations facing decisions about their futures. Part-time Islamic broadcasters NMO, NIO and the merged SMON were all withdrawn from the public system. In March 2012, NPO announced the closure of two of its digital television channels, Geschiedenis 24 (''History 24'') and Consumenten 24 (''Consumer 24'') on 1 April. History programmes transferred to Holland Doc 24 and consumer programmes are looked after by VARA via an online portal.Future plans (from 2016)
From 2015, Netherlands Public Broadcasting will face a budget shortfall of 200 million euro. To address this, the number of broadcasting associations within the public system is to be reduced. Mergers and/or cooperations have been confirmed between existing broadcasting associations:List of broadcasters
Member based
There are currently eleven member-based broadcasting associations: *Task based
In addition, there are now two official "public service broadcasters" created under the Media Act of 1988: * NOS ''(Nederlandse Omroep Stichting)'' ( en, Dutch Broadcasting Foundation): Focusing on news, parliamentary reporting, and sport, NOS's stated aim is to be objective. It is responsible for the "Other
*Former broadcasters
*Television
The broadcasting organisations produce programmes for three main television channels and eight digital channels. Since 4 July 2009 the three main channels have beenNational
*Digital
Available viaInternational
*Radio
National
*Digital and web channels
The following digital and web channels are available viInternational
*NPO Start (Plus)
NPO Start is an onlineRegional broadcasters
In addition to the national system, each Dutch province also had a broadcasting corporation supplying its own programming to its television and radio stations from 1989 to 2021. * (See also
*References
External links
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