The Omroepvereniging VARA (), the VARA Broadcasting Association, was a Dutch

public broadcasting Public broadcasting involves radio, television and other electronic media outlets whose primary mission is public service. Public broadcasters receive funding from diverse sources including license fees, individual contributions, public financing ...

association primarily operating in the fields of television, radio, publishing and interactive media. It was a member of

Netherlands Public Broadcasting (; abbreviated to NPO ; literally "Dutch Public Broadcaster") or Dutch Foundation for Public Broadcasting () is a Dutch public broadcasting organisation that administers public broadcasting services in the Netherlands. The NPO is also the owner ...

History

The association was founded in 1925 as the Vereeniging van Arbeiders Radio AmateursThe word ''vereeniging'' is an antiquated spelling; today this word is spelled ''vereniging''. (Association of Worker Radio Amateurs). The name was changed to ''Omroepvereniging VARA'' in 1957 and is no longer an

acronym An acronym is a word or name formed from the initial components of a longer name or phrase. Acronyms are usually formed from the initial letters of words, as in ''NATO'' (''North Atlantic Treaty Organization''), but sometimes use syllables, as ...

. VARA originally focused on labour and socialism. In the era of Dutch

pillarization Pillarisation (from the nl, verzuiling) is the politico-denominational segregation of a society into groups by religion and associated political beliefs. These societies were (and in some areas, still are) vertically divided into two or more gr ...

the association had close links to the Social Democratic Workers Party and its successor, the Labour Party. For many years VARA's chairmen, such as

Marcel van Dam Marcel Parcival Arthur van Dam (; born 30 January 1938) is a retired Dutch politician of the Labour Party (PvdA) and journalist. Van Dam worked as a researcher for the Wiardi Beckman Foundation from April 1967 until September 1969. Van Dam al ...

and André Kloos, were prominent members of the party. Although the connection between the two organizations loosened, affinities remain, such as a large overlap between their respective support bases. On 7 March 2002, VARA adopted its final logo which consists of a red cube bearing an exclamation mark alongside the word "VARA" in its new, trademark font. On 1 January 2014, VARA was merged with BNN to form BNN-VARA.

Programming

Selection of domestic programmes

* '' 2 voor 12'' (1971-1981 and 1991-present), a quiz show hosted most recently by Astrid Joosten * '' Kassa'' (1989–present) * '' Kinderen geen bezwaar'' (2004–2013) * ''

Kinderen voor Kinderen (, ) is a Dutch children's choir maintained by public broadcaster BNNVARA. Since 1980 the choir has released one album of new children's songs each year, and is probably the only act from the 1980s with consecutive albums in the top 40 char ...

'' (1980–present) * Mike and Thomas Show (2005-2009), a panel game show * '' Pauw & Witteman'' (2006-2014), a live programme about current events, presented by Jeroen Pauw and Paul Witteman * '' Sonja'' (1983–2006), a talk show hosted by Sonja Barend * ''

De Wereld Draait Door ''De Wereld Draait Door'' (; English: "The world keeps on turning") also known by the acronym DWDD was an early-evening talk show on Dutch television, broadcast every weekday at 7:00 p.m. on NPO 1. It is the Netherlands' longest-running, reg ...

'' (2005–2020), a live programme about current events, hosted by Matthijs van Nieuwkerk * Various programmes with

Paul de Leeuw Paul Henri de Leeuw (born 26 March 1962) is a Dutch television comedian, singer and actor. De Leeuw gained national fame in the late eighties and early nineties with television shows for broadcasting company VARA. Though satire was only a part ...

* ''

Zeg 'ns Aaa ''Zeg 'ns Aaa'' (''Say Aah'') was one of the longest running and most popular Dutch sitcoms, situated in the medical practice of a general practitioner and revolving around herself, her family, and her housekeeper. The title refers to the imperat ...

'' (1981-1993), popular Dutch sitcom * '' Alfred J. Kwak'' (1989-1991), an animated children's television series * ''

Pipo de Clown Pipo de Clown is a character created by writer and artist Wim Meuldijk, which became famous as the lead character of a popular early Netherlands, Dutch television series also written by Meuldijk, and which was subsequently popularized in movies an ...

'' (1958-1964 and 1970-1980), a children's television series

Miscellaneous

On 5 June 1964, during The Beatles' world tour of that year, VARA organized and recorded for television a Beatles concert in the Treslong Café Restaurant in

Hillegom Hillegom () is a town and municipality in the western Netherlands, in the province of South Holland. Hillegom is part of an area called the Duin- en Bollenstreek ("Dune and Bulb Region"). As such, a large portion of the local economy was traditio ...

as part of the group's three-day visit to the Netherlands. VARA broadcast a complete summary of the Beatles' visit to the country three days later, on 8 June 1964.The visualization of the three day visit showed:
* arrival at

Schiphol Airport Amsterdam Airport Schiphol , known informally as Schiphol Airport ( nl, Luchthaven Schiphol, ), is the main international airport of the Netherlands. It is located southwest of Amsterdam, in the municipality of Haarlemmermeer in the province ...

- young women wearing

Volendam Volendam () is a fishing town in the municipality of Edam-Volendam, province of North Holland, Netherlands. As of 1 January 2021, it has a population of 22,715. It is twinned with Coventry, England. History Originally, Volendam was the location o ...

folk costume A folk costume (also regional costume, national costume, traditional garment, or traditional regalia) expresses an identity through costume, which is usually associated with a geographic area or a period of time in history. It can also indicat ...

s welcoming, offering tulips and traditional Dutch hats.
* the concert at Treslong.
* a roundtrip by boat through the canals of

Amsterdam Amsterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Amstel'') is the capital and most populous city of the Netherlands, with The Hague being the seat of government. It has a population of 907,976 within the city proper, 1,558,755 in the urban ar ...

. The Beatles visiting the red light district

De Wallen De Wallen () or De Walletjes () is the largest and best known red-light district in Amsterdam. It consists of a network of alleys containing approximately 300 one-room cabins rented by prostitutes who offer their sexual services from behind a win ...

was not shown.
* arrival at De Doelen Hotel in Amsterdam.
* the concert at the Veilinghallen in Blokker.
* the group waving goodbye while boarding a plane at Schiphol Airport on their way to their next destination,

Hongkong Hong Kong ( (US) or (UK); , ), officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China (abbr. Hong Kong SAR or HKSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China on the eastern Pearl River Delta i ...

References

External links

* Dutch public broadcasting organisations Netherlands Public Broadcasting Dutch-language television networks Television channels and stations established in 1957 Radio stations established in 1925 Dutch companies established in 1925 {{Netherlands-stub