Veronica is a brand name of successive Dutch commercial radio and television stations. It began its life as an

offshore radio Offshore radio is radio broadcasting from ships or fixed maritime structures. Offshore broadcasters are usually unlicensed but transmissions are legal in international waters. This is in contrast to unlicensed broadcasting on land or within a na ...

station,

Radio Veronica Radio Veronica was an offshore radio station that began broadcasting in 1960, and broadcast offshore for over fourteen years. It was set up by independent radio, TV and household electrical retailers in the Netherlands to stimulate the sales ...

, on 17 May 1960. The name comes from its first name VRON (Vrije Radio Omroep Nederland; ). "Free" was a reference to the laws at the time that didn't allow commercial radio broadcasters to operate from a location within the (land) territory of the Netherlands. Though Veronica's appeal and power have waned, most of the Dutch commercial radio and television landscape has been formed by Veronica and its spin-offs.

Television

Veronica's Years as Public Broadcaster (1976-1995)

The Association resulted from a

pirate radio station Pirate radio or a pirate radio station is a radio station that broadcasts without a valid license. In some cases, radio stations are considered legal where the signal is transmitted, but illegal where the signals are received—especially w ...

, which broadcast from a ship on

international waters The terms international waters or transboundary waters apply where any of the following types of bodies of water (or their drainage basins) transcend international boundaries: oceans, large marine ecosystems, enclosed or semi-enclosed regiona ...

off the

coast The coast, also known as the coastline or seashore, is defined as the area where land meets the ocean, or as a line that forms the boundary between the land and the coastline. The Earth has around of coastline. Coasts are important zones in n ...

of the Netherlands between 1959 and 1974. The wave appearing in the

logo A logo (abbreviation of logotype; ) is a graphic mark, emblem, or symbol used to aid and promote public identification and recognition. It may be of an abstract or figurative design or include the text of the name it represents as in a wordma ...

hearkens back to that time. The name ''Veronica'' is a derivation of the abbreviation VRON (Vrije Radio Omroep Nederland / Free Radio Broadcasting station Netherlands). After the pirate-activities became legally impossible (31 August 1974), Veronica transformed itself into the Veronica Broadcasting Association (Veronica Omroep Organisatie, short VOO), enabling it to gain a legal radio and television license within the

Public broadcasting system The Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) is an American public broadcaster and non-commercial, free-to-air television network based in Arlington, Virginia. PBS is a publicly funded nonprofit organization and the most prominent provider of educati ...

. It finally got a licence on 28 December 1975. The first television broadcast of Veronica was on 21 April 1976. Within a decade it became one of the largest public broadcasters and the trademark was tested as being more popular than

Coca-Cola Coca-Cola, or Coke, is a carbonated soft drink manufactured by the Coca-Cola Company. Originally marketed as a temperance drink and intended as a patent medicine, it was invented in the late 19th century by John Stith Pemberton in Atlanta ...

With Holland Media Groep (1995-2001)

In 1995 the ''Veronica Association'' gave up public broadcasting and entered a joint-venture with CLT, parent company of ''

RTL 4 RTL 4 (Radio Télévision Luxembourg 4) is a Dutch free-to-air, free-to-cable television channel; it is the most-watched commercial station in the country, popular especially with those aged between 20 and 49. RTL 4 is a general entertainment chan ...

'' and ''

RTL 5 RTL 5 is a Dutch free-to-cable television channel that was launched on 2 October 1993. It mainly broadcasts American films and hit series but also reality shows, comedy, travel, international shows and local productions including ''Expeditie Robi ...

'', VNU and

Endemol Endemol B.V. was a Dutch-based media company that produced and distributed multiplatform entertainment content. The company annually produced more than 15,000 hours of programming across scripted and non-scripted genres, including drama, reality ...

, called the

Holland Media Groep RTL Nederland is a Dutch media network, a subsidiary of the RTL Group. The media company is located in Hilversum, although the licences of its TV stations are issued in Luxembourg. History The history of the network dates back to 1989 when dutc ...

, running three mostly successful national TV-stations and three less successful national radio stations. BNN became a public broadcasting association as a part of the Netherlands Public Broadcasting system and replaced Veronica on 15 August 1997, after Veronica gave up public broadcasting and entered a joint-venture with CLT, with BNN first standing for the Brutaal News Network (Flagrant News Network). The name was later changed to Bart's Neverending Network after Bart de Graaff's death at age 35 from kidney failure caused by a rejection of a kidney transplant he received in 1999. Conflicts let to the dissolution of this co-operation in Spring of 2001. RTL rebranded ''Veronica'' into ''Yorin'' which would finally be rebranded into ''

RTL 7 RTL 7 is a Dutch free-to-cable television channel that was launched as ''Veronica'' on 1 September 1995. RTL 7 is RTL Nederland's "men's channel" with action films, reality television about crime and professions, soccer, motorsport and talk sho ...

SBS (2003-)

In 2002-2003 the Veronica Association learned that it could not realise radio and TV in a stand-alone setting. In 2001

SBS Broadcasting B.V. SBS may refer to: Broadcasting * SBS Broadcasting Group, Belgium, formerly many countries * Talpa TV, formerly SBS Broadcasting B.V., Netherlands ** SBS6, Dutch television channel ** SBS9, Dutch television channel * Special Broadcasting Servic ...

, then the Dutch branch of the

SBS Broadcasting Group SBS Broadcasting Group (SBS), formerly Scandinavian Broadcasting Systems, was a European multinational media group, operating commercial television, premium pay channels, radio stations and related print businesses in Northern, Western and Cen ...

, already bought the Dutch TV channel ''Fox 8'' from the

News Corporation News Corporation (abbreviated News Corp.), also variously known as News Corporation Limited, was an American multinational mass media corporation controlled by media mogul Rupert Murdoch and headquartered at 1211 Avenue of the Americas in Ne ...

and renamed it into ''V8'' in anticipation of ''Veronica''. However, the negotiations between the Veronica Association and SBS Broadcasting were not going as planned and no agreement could be set. In the course of 2002 ''Veronica'' cooperated with MTV Networks Benelux and started time-sharing with MTV's

Kindernet Kindernet (as Nickelodeon Kindernet from 2011 to 2013) was a Dutch television network that aired classic and modern children's television series from the 1980s onward. Two iterations of the network have been broadcast; the original lasted from 1 ...

. The ratings were poor though. At the end of 2002 the Association is even talking with HMG again. Eventually Veronica Association closed a deal with SBS, and ''V8'' was rebranded as Veronica on 20 September 2003.

References

External links

Vereniging Veronica
{{Authority control Mass media companies of the Netherlands Netherlands Public Broadcasting