AVRO, short for Algemene Vereniging Radio Omroep ("General Association of Radio Broadcasting"), was a Dutch public broadcasting association operating within the framework of the

Nederlandse Publieke Omroep The Dutch public broadcasting system ( nl, Nederlands publieke omroepbestel) is a group of organizations that are responsible for public service television and radio broadcasting in the Netherlands. It is composed of the Nederlandse Publieke Omroe ...

system. It was the first public broadcaster in the

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

. In 2014 AVRO merged with fellow broadcaster

TROS Tros or TROS may refer to: * 18281 Tros, an asteroid * Transformer read-only storage, a type of read-only memory * TROS, a Dutch broadcasting union, originally an acronym for Televisie Radio Omroep Stichting * Tros (mythology) In Greek mytholo ...

to form

AVROTROS AVROTROS () is a Dutch radio and television broadcaster that is part of the Dutch public broadcasting system. It was founded in 2014 as the result of a merger between the Algemene Vereniging Radio Omroep (AVRO) and the Televisie Radio Omroep St ...

History

On 8 July 1923, Hilversumsche Draadlooze Omroep was launched by the Nederlandsche Seintoestellen Fabriek (in English: Dutch Transmitter Factory) under supervision of Willem Vogt. On 21 July 1923, it provided the very first regular radio broadcast in the Netherlands. In 1927 it changed its name into Algemeene Nederlandsche Radio Omroep (ANRO), followed soon by a merger with Nederlandsche Omroep Vereeniging (NOV). On 28 December 1927, the two merged broadcasters continued as Algemeene Vereeniging Radio Omroep (A.V.R.O., in English: "General Association of Radio Broadcasting"). In 1938, AVRO sponsored what was the strongest

chess tournament A chess tournament is a series of chess games played competitively to determine a winning individual or team. Since the first international chess tournament in London 1851 chess tournament, London, 1851, chess tournaments have become the standard ...

ever to be held, won by

Paul Keres Paul Keres (; 7 January 1916 – 5 June 1975) was an Estonian chess grandmaster and chess writer. He was among the world's top players from the mid-1930s to the mid-1960s, and narrowly missed a chance at a World Chess Championship match on five ...

on tiebreak over

Reuben Fine Reuben C. Fine (October 11, 1914 – March 26, 1993) was an American chess player, psychologist, university professor, and author of many books on both chess and psychology. He was one of the strongest chess players in the world from the mi ...

. AVRO was historically associated with the liberal

pillar A column or pillar in architecture and structural engineering is a structural element that transmits, through compression, the weight of the structure above to other structural elements below. In other words, a column is a compression member. ...

, a fact reflected in its longtime slogan, "promoting freedom." On 2 September 1999, AVRO adopted its fourth and last logo that consists of the "Avro" wordmark being made up of blue stripes, except the letter "o" that is made up by a blue ball. On 7 September 2014, AVRO were merged with its fellow broadcaster

to create one company known as

Radio channels

Under

NPO Radio 4 NPO Klassiek is a public-service radio channel in the Netherlands, broadcasting chiefly classical music. It is part of the Netherlands Public Broadcasting system, NPO. History The channel began broadcasting on 28 December 1975 under the name ...

: * AVRO Back to the Old School * AVRO Baroque around the Clock (shut down 1 April 2016) * AVRO Easy Listening * AVRO Klassiek * AVRO Het beste van het beste * AVRO Radio Festival Classique * AVRO Steenen Tijdperk Fifties * AVRO Steenen Tijdperk Sixties * AVRO Ziel en Zaligheid * AVRO Operette

Radio programmes

* Arbeidsvitaminen

Television programmes

Devil's Advocate The (Latin for Devil's advocate) is a former official position within the Catholic Church, the Promoter of the Faith: one who "argued against the canonization (sainthood) of a candidate in order to uncover any character flaws or misrepresentat ...

* EénVandaag (co-production with

) * Gehaktdag *

Koefnoen ''Koefnoen'' (say: ''koof noon'') was a popular Dutch television show, aired by the AVRO between 2004 and 2016. The first episode aired on 17 September 2004. The sketches on this show were taking a look at the past week. Most characters in ''Ko ...

Op zoek naar Evita ''Op zoek naar Evita'' (''Looking for Evita'') was a 2007 talent show-themed television series produced by the AVRO in the Netherlands. It documented the search for a new, undiscovered musical theatre performer to play the role of Eva Peron in th ...

Op zoek naar Joseph ''Op zoek naar Joseph'' (''Looking for Joseph'') was a 2008 talent show-themed television series produced by the AVRO in the Netherlands. It searched for a new, unknown lead to play Joseph in a 2009 Dutch revival of the Andrew Lloyd Webber m ...

* The Phone *

TopPop ''TopPop'' is the first regular dedicated pop music television series in the Dutch language area. The Netherlands broadcaster AVRO aired the programme weekly, from 22 September 1970, to 27 June 1988. Presenter Ad Visser hosted for its first fif ...

Wie is de Mol? ''Wie is de Mol?'' (''English'': ''Who is the Mole?'') is a Dutch adventure reality game show. It is based on the Belgian reality game show '' De Mol'', the original version of the format created in 1998 by Woestijnvis and broadcast on VRT. Fo ...

(Dutch version of The Mole)

Presenters

These are the Current Presenters Went From

Chantal Janzen Chantal Janzen (; born 15 February 1979) is a Dutch actress, singer and TV presenter. She had parts in '' The Preacher'', ''Full Moon Party'' and '' Deuce Bigalow: European Gigolo'' and presented '' Idols''. She also played Belle in the Dutch mu ...

(TV) *

Cornald Maas Cornald Maas is a Dutch television presenter who has been known for presenting talk shows in the Netherlands. He is the brother of Frans Maas. Early career He was an editor involved in ''The Scream of the Lion'' (VARA) with Paul de Leeuw, ''Son ...

(TV) *

Gerard Ekdom Gerard Ekdom (born 26 March 1978, in Utrecht) is a Dutch radio DJ formerly at the radio stations NPO Radio 2 and the 3FM. Programs he hosted include Arbeidsvitaminen (lit. ''labour vitamines'', a Dutch term for music played while doing manual ...

(TV & Radio) *

Jan Steeman Jan Steeman (23 May 1933 – 24 January 2018) was a Dutch comics artist, best known for his association football comic ''Roel Dijkstra'' and ''Noortje'', a comic strip about a bumbling teenage girl published in ''Tina''. The latter runs for more t ...

(Radio) *

Pia Dijkstra Pia Dijkstra (born 9 December 1954 in Franeker) is a Dutch politician and chair of the Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs of the Dutch House of Representatives. Ms Dijkstra is a member of Democrats 66 (D66) and has been an MP since 17 June 201 ...

(TV & Radio) *

Sipke Jan Bousema Sipke Jan Bousema ( Dokkum, 15 August 1976) is a Dutch presenter and actor. Bousema made his television debut in January 1999 at Teleac/NOT as the presenter for ''Schooltv Weekjournaal''. Career In the past he has presented many programmes for ...

(TV)

Announcers

* Netty Rosenfeld† (1951-1952) * Heleen van Meurs (1953-1955) * Mies Bouwman (1954-1955) *

Ageeth Scherphuis Ageeth Scherphuis (30 March 1933 - 16 April 2012), was a Dutch journalist who broke into television, initially as an announcer. She went on to work in children's television. Subsequently she worked as a television reporter, moderator, commentato ...

(1956-1966) * Elizabeth Mooy (1959-1966, 1971–1976) * Ilse Wessel † (1963-1969) * Lonneke Hoogland (1964-1968) * Ria Bremer (1966-1970) * Viola Holt/Viola van Emmenes (1968-1969) * Alice Oppenheim (1968-1975) * Sonja van Proosdij (1969) * Lous Haasdijk † (1969-1975) * Ingrid Drissen (1974-1980) * Jos van Vliet (1975-1976) * Hans van der Togt (1976-1989) * Ilona Hofstra (1977-1979) * Patricia Messer (1979-1985) * Jack van der Voorn (1983) * Monique van der Sande (1983-1985) * Ad Visser (1985-1989) * Myrna Goossen (1985-1990) * Simon Visser (1986) * Roeland Kooijmans (1988-1991) * Birgit E. Gantzert (1989-1992) * Judith de Bruijn (1989-1992) * Pauline Dekker (1990-1991) * Humberto Tan (1991-1992)

Correspondents

* Link van Bruggen † * Jan Brusse † (1948-1985) * Koen Corver * Anton Foek * Albert Milhado † (1945-1975) * Peter Schröder † (1960-1984) * Max Tak † (1945-1967) * Fons van Westerloo (1976-1983)

References

{{Authority control Dutch public broadcasting organisations Netherlands Public Broadcasting Dutch-language television networks Dutch companies established in 1927