Radio 538 () is a Dutch commercial radio station that was founded in
Hilversum
Hilversum () is a city and municipality in the province of North Holland, Netherlands. Located in the heart of the Gooi, it is the largest urban centre in that area. It is surrounded by heathland, woods, meadows, lakes, and smaller towns. Hilvers ...
, Netherlands in 1992. It is the second-most listened to radio station in the Netherlands. Radio 538 refers to the wavelength on which
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 ...
used to broadcast in the 1970s. The station is owned by
Talpa Network
Talpa Network is a Dutch media conglomerate created by John de Mol Jr. in 2017.
History
Talpa Network was created in 2017 by John de Mol when he merged all his various media assets, De Mol wanted to create a Dutch media conglomerate that coul ...
. Mostly targetting a young audience, the station plays a mix of current dance, R&B, pop, and rock hits. The music selection is mainly based on the
Dutch Top 40
The Dutch Top 40 ( nl, Nederlandse Top 40) is a weekly music chart compiled by ''Stichting Nederlandse Top 40''. It started as a radio program titled "Veronica Top 40", on the offshore station Radio Veronica in 1965. It remained "The Veronica ...
chart. Its breakfast and drive-time shows are talk-intensive.
The station was originally only accessible through cable. In 1998, Radio 538 upgraded their frequency package, allowing for different frequencies by region. Radio 538 launched the hip-hop and contemporary R&B program ''Juize'', which developed into the radio station
Juize FM in 2004. In 2011, Radio 538 created a sister television station called
TV 538.
History
Radio 538 was founded in 1992 and is the successor of Sky Hitradio, a sister station of
Sky Radio
Sky Radio is a Dutch commercial radio station playing non-stop Adult Contemporary pop music, owned by Talpa Holding. The target audience is men and women between 25 and 54 years of age. It is programmed according to the AC format (any popular so ...
that broadcast from July to 11 December 1992 and an initiative of a group of former
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 ...
employees, led by
Lex Harding
Lex or LEX may refer to:
Arts and entertainment
* ''Lex'', a daily featured column in the ''Financial Times''
Games
* Lex, the mascot of the word-forming puzzle video game ''Bookworm''
* Lex, the protagonist of the word-forming puzzle video ga ...
. Transmissions began on 11 December 1992 from a villa in
Bussum
Bussum () is a commuter town and former municipality in the Gooi region in the south east of the province of North Holland in the Netherlands near Hilversum. Since 2016, Bussum has been part of the new municipality of Gooise Meren.
Bussum had a ...
. The name Radio 538 is a reference to the
wavelength
In physics, the wavelength is the spatial period of a periodic wave—the distance over which the wave's shape repeats.
It is the distance between consecutive corresponding points of the same phase on the wave, such as two adjacent crests, tro ...
(538m:558 kHz) on which Radio Veronica was broadcast in the seventies. Presenters of the first hour were
Rick van Velthuysen
Rick van Velthuysen (; born 15 September 1961) is a Dutch radio DJ.
Born in Rotterdam, Van Velthuysen started his career at the age of 18 with ''Radio Bollenstreek''. In 1985 he became a DJ with KRO and had a gameshow with . He moved to AV ...
,
Wessel van Diepen
Wessel Dietrich van Diepen (born 12 November 1966) is a Dutch radio host, music producer, voice actor and former TV presenter. Under the pseudonym DJ Delmundo, he is part of Danski & Delmundo, the production duo behind internationally famous act ...
,
Erik de Zwart
Erik de Zwart (born 16 June 1957 in Amsterdam) is a Dutch broadcaster, former D.J., former Music Box, The Music Factory and MTV V.J. and media entrepreneur.
He was co-founder and shareholder of Radio 538 (1992) and The Music Factory (1995).
P ...
,
Michael Pilarczyk,
Will Luikinga and
Corné Klijn.
The broadcasts of Radio 538 were initially made in
Studio Concordia
A studio is an artist or worker's workroom. This can be for the purpose of acting, architecture, painting, pottery (ceramics), sculpture, origami, woodworking, scrapbooking, photography, graphic design, filmmaking, animation, industrial design, ...
in Bussum, a building that was already being used as a television studio and was used in the eighties and nineties by
Veronica program ''
Countdown
A countdown is a sequence of backward counting to indicate the time remaining before an event is scheduled to occur. NASA commonly employs the terms "L-minus" and "T-minus" during the preparation for and anticipation of a rocket launch, and eve ...
''. In the late nineties Radio 538 moved from Bussum to Hilversum, where it moved into a studio complex close to the town hall. Since December 1, 2012, houses the entire
538 Group
Talpa Radio (formerly: ''538 Group'' and ''Sky Radio Group'') is a radio company of ''Talpa Network'', in which various radio and television activities are housed.
History
The company started in 2002 when John de Mol Jr. bought '' Noordzee FM' ...
in the 4400 m2 NCRV building at Bergweg 70 in Hilversum.
Initially, from its start in 1992 until 1995, Radio 538 was only available via cable. A request to be allowed to broadcast over the air was rejected at that time. Following a media campaign during which 320,000 signatures were collected and Radio 538 acquired its over-the-air frequency in 1995 – or more precisely, a collection of several regional frequencies. In 2003, Radio 538 was granted a new nationwide frequency, 102 MHz (FM). 538 had to pay €57 million for the new frequencies.
In 1995, Lex Harding started
TMF (The Music Factory), a TV station, and Erik de Zwart became the new chairman of 538. At the end of 2002 Erik de Zwart left to go to competitor
Noordzee FM.
Jan-Willem Brüggenwirth became the new chairman. In December 2003 Radio 538 was sold to
Advent International
Advent International is a global private equity firm focused on buyouts of companies in Western and Central Europe, North America, Latin America and Asia. The firm focuses on international buyouts, growth and strategic restructuring in five core ...
, Lex Harding retaining 10% of the shares. In May 2005 Radio 538 was sold in its entirety to
Talpa Holding
Talpa Network is a Dutch media conglomerate created by John de Mol Jr. in 2017.
History
Talpa Network was created in 2017 by John de Mol when he merged all his various media assets, De Mol wanted to create a Dutch media conglomerate that coul ...
, owned by Dutch media mogul
John de Mol
Johannes Hendrikus Hubert "John" de Mol Jr. (born 24 April 1955) is a Dutch Mass media, media Business magnate, tycoon. De Mol is one of the men behind production companies Endemol and Talpa Network, Talpa. He created the reality television form ...
. In June 2007 De Mol sold the TV and radio assets of Talpa to
RTL Nederland
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 dut ...
and became shareholder of RTL Nederland.
Radio 538 managed in 10 years to win a substantial market share. In April/May 2004, the station nudged market leader Sky Radio to the throne. Nowadays 538 still competes with
NPO Radio 2
NPO Radio 2 is a public-service radio station from the Netherlands, broadcasting in an adult hits format, focusing on music from the 1980s to the 2010s and current hits, however 1960s and 1970s hits may also air. It is part of the Netherlands ...
and
NPO 3FM
NPO 3FM is a Dutch rhythmic CHR radio station controlled by public broadcaster Netherlands Public Broadcasting, NPO. The vast majority of the songs played on-air are Rock music, rock, Alternative rock, alternative, Indie rock, indie and Pop mus ...
as the most listened radio station in the Netherlands. The marketing share is between 10 and 12 percent. In 2002, 2004 and 2009 Radio 538 won the
Marconi Award :''"Marconi Award" links here. Note that in the Netherlands, the radio academy awards are also called Marconi Awards.''
The Marconi Radio Awards are presented annually by the National Association of Broadcasters (NAB) to the top radio stations and ...
for best radio station.
In Flanders, a Flemish version of Radio 538 launched on cable in February 1999, pending the airwave frequency allocation for national commercial radio, which in the late nineties was announced by the Flemish government in 2000. When in 2000 was no clear procedure for a given frequency, Radio 538 withdrew from Flanders.
In 2011 Talpa worked together with Finnish media conglomerate
Sanoma
Sanoma Corporation (, formerly SanomaWSOY) is Finland's largest media group. The company has media business in Finland and a learning business in Belgium, the Netherlands, Poland, Sweden, Norway and Spain, among others. The company is headquarte ...
to buy the Dutch activities of
SBS Broadcasting
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 ...
from German broadcaster
ProSiebenSat.1 Media
ProSiebenSat.1 Media SE (officially abbreviated as P7S1, formerly ProSiebenSat.1 Media AG) is a German mass media & digital company. It operates in three segments: Entertainment, Dating and Commerce & Ventures. The company is listed on the Fran ...
. As part of that deal De Mol sold his shares in RTL Nederland to the
RTL Group
RTL Group (for "Radio Television Luxembourg") is a Luxembourg-based international media conglomerate, with another corporate centre in Cologne, Germany. The company operates 68 television channels and 31 radio stations in Germany, France and ...
, retaining the ownership of Radio 538 and its sister station
SLAM!FM
SLAM! (Sound Lifestyle And More, stylized as ►SLAM! and previously SLAM!FM) is a Dutch commercial national radio station that plays current-based rhythmic and dance hits. SLAM! has a strong commitment in breaking new dance music. The playlist a ...
. In 2014 Radio 538 started with some new programs.
De Avondploeg,
De Show Zonder Naam and
Jurk!FM.
In 2018, the station announced that it would stop carrying the flagship Dutch Top 40 chart. Prior to this, it has been discontinued on FM signal for quite some time.
The replacement will be named 538TOP50, and it is compiled based on the selection from 150,000 538Members, airplay on Spotify, YouTube and all the Dutch music stations, alongside
Talpa Talpa may refer to:
Places
* Talpa, Iran, a village in Khuzestan Province, Iran
* Talpa, Teleorman, a commune in Teleorman County, Romania
* Talpa, a village in Cândeşti Commune, Botoşani County, Romania
* Talpa, a village in Bârgăuani Com ...
's app JUKE. Dutch Top 40 is now on
Qmusic.
Format
In the beginning, the station focused mainly on youth with slogans like, "The station of a young generation". With the advent of disc jockeys such as
Edwin Evers
Edwin Dinan Evers (May 9, 1971 in Hardenberg) is a Dutch drummer and radio presenter of the radio station Radio 538.
Biography
Evers was born on 9 May 1971 in Hardenberg, the Netherlands, his first experience with radio was by the local broadcast ...
, the target group expanded, and the station became wider. A new
Alarmschijf and
Dancesmash still ran weekly. The listener can also help decide which music is played in the program
Maak 't or kraak 't and in past the
Top 538. Jingles for the station is recorded by
Wessel van Diepen
Wessel Dietrich van Diepen (born 12 November 1966) is a Dutch radio host, music producer, voice actor and former TV presenter. Under the pseudonym DJ Delmundo, he is part of Danski & Delmundo, the production duo behind internationally famous act ...
,
Rick Romijn
Rick may refer to:
People
*Rick (given name), a list of people with the given name
*Alan Rick (born 1976), Brazilian politician, journalist, pastor and television personality
*Johannes Rick (1869–1946), Austrian-born Brazilian priest and mycol ...
and
Kimberly van de Berkt.
Nowadays, the station makes commercial hitradio for young people in the broadest sense of the word. The format consists of
Top 40
In the music industry, the Top 40 is the current, 40 most-popular songs in a particular genre. It is the best-selling or most frequently broadcast popular music. Record charts have traditionally consisted of a total of 40 songs. "Top 40" or " con ...
music,
dance
Dance is a performing art form consisting of sequences of movement, either improvised or purposefully selected. This movement has aesthetic and often symbolic value. Dance can be categorized and described by its choreography, by its repertoir ...
,
Contemporary R&B
Contemporary R&B (or simply R&B) is a popular music genre that combines rhythm and blues with elements of pop, soul, funk, hip hop, and electronic music.
The genre features a distinctive record production style, drum machine-backed rhythm ...
and "throwbacks", supplemented with information and entertainment by DJs. The morning shows (4am-12pm) feature a mix of current and classic hits. The afternoon and nighttime shows focus more on current hits.
Frequencies
From the launch in 1992 and until 1994, Radio 538 was distributed via cable. In 1994 the station submitted a request for an FM license, however larger stations (such as Radio 538 and SkyRadio) were not granted any FM licenses at that time in favour of smaller, local radio stations. Subsequently, Radio 538 started a media campaign, where a total of 320,000 signatures were collected and in 1995 Radio 538 received license to broadcast on FM on the frequency (103.0 MHz, from Lelystad). On January 1, 1998, the station moved to another frequency package, with different frequencies in different regions.
At the air distribution in 2003 (called Zerobase) Radio 538 received a new nationwide FM network. Radio 538 has since been received in large parts of the Netherlands over the air on the
FM band via the following frequencies: 102.1/102.3 MHz North Holland, Groningen 102.2 MHz, 102.3 MHz North Brabant, Gelderland, Limburg, 102.4 MHz Zeeland and North Brabant, Friesland and Utrecht 102.5 MHz, 102.6 MHz Overijssel and Gelderland, 102.7 MHz South Holland and Drenthe. Radio 538 promotes its frequencies as "102 FM". Due to the lack of available FM frequencies in the south Limburg region, it was also rebroadcast on 891 kHz
mediumwave
Medium wave (MW) is the part of the medium frequency (MF) radio band used mainly for AM radio broadcasting. The spectrum provides about 120 channels with more limited sound quality than FM stations on the FM broadcast band. During the dayti ...
from a transmitter in
Hulsberg
Hulsberg (Limburgish: ''Hölsberg'') is a village in the southeastern Netherlands. It is located in the municipality of Beekdaelen, Limburg, about 15 km east of Maastricht.
History
The village was first mentioned in 1147 as Huleberga, and ...
.
Radio 538 can also be received via
Digitenne
Digitenne is the Dutch digital terrestrial television platform. It is owned by KPN. Digitenne uses the DVB-T2 standard. The national public television channels NPO 1, NPO 2, NPO 3 and the regional public television channels are free-to-air. For a ...
and the whole of Europe via satellite and worldwide via the Internet. Previously it was available on mobile phones via
UMTS
The Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS) is a third generation mobile cellular system for networks based on the GSM standard. Developed and maintained by the 3GPP (3rd Generation Partnership Project), UMTS is a component of the Inte ...
(on the portals of KPN i-mode and Vodafone Live) and in Limburg on AM 891 kHz, 336 m.
Radio 538 also transmits a
TMC signal from traffic for route navigation.
From Tuesday, August 30, 2011 until November 23, 2011 Radio 538 was broadcast on 106.0 MHz from the tower of Ping FM in the Belgian Lanaken, for the region of Limburg-
Maastricht
Maastricht ( , , ; li, Mestreech ; french: Maestricht ; es, Mastrique ) is a city and a municipality in the southeastern Netherlands. It is the capital and largest city of the province of Limburg. Maastricht is located on both sides of the ...
from 12am at night until 7 pm. Ping FM was eventually ordered by the Vlaamse Regulator voor de Media (Flemish Regulator for the Media) to stop the retransmission of programs of Radio 538. In mid-September 2014 the programs of 538 can be heard via Ping FM. During the day on weekdays, on Thursday, till Sunday also few hours in the evening and on Saturday and Sunday mornings.
In August 2016, it was reported that Radio 538 would cease to broadcast via mediumwave 891 kHz within one month, as it is now well-received via cable, DAB+ and the internet in the south Limburg region. From 26 October 2016 this transmitting is indeed ceased.
Programs
The two most important pillars of the weekday programming are the morning show De 538 Morning Show with
Frank Dane
Frank Dane was a British actor of the silent era.
Dane was born Frank Hughbert Thomas Crust on 7 June 1885 in Deal, Kent. He died in 1957 at age 71 in Chichester, Sussex.
Selected filmography
* '' A Daughter of England'' (1915)
* ''Justice'' ( ...
(06.00-10.00), which can be heard on the channel from January 2019 (from April 2000 to December 2018 Edwin Evers presented the program Evers Staat Op) and the afternoon show De Coen en Sander Show with Coen Swijnenberg and Sander Lantinga (16.00-19.00). Between 10:00 and 16:00 Barend van Deelen, Niek van der Bruggen and Ivo van Breukelen will each present a two-hour program. In the evening Lindo Duvall (19.00-22.00) and Igmar Felicia (22.00-00.00) can be heard. At night there is the 53N8 Non-Stop, which only plays music. Danny Blom can be heard from 04.00 to 06.00.
On Friday afternoon there is different programming with the 538 Top 50 (previously the Dutch Top 40) with Mark Labrand (14.00-18.00). The Friday evening programming consists of Weekend Wietze with Wietze de Jager (18.00-21.00), 538 weekend mix (21.00-22.00) and Mart Meijer (22.00-00.00).
On Saturday during the day, the programming consists of: The best of 538 (6.00-10.00), Mart Meijer (10.00-13.00), Mark Labrand (13.00-16.00) and Weekend Wietze with Wietze de Jager (16.00-19.00). On Saturday evening the programming consists of: Global Dance Chart (19.00-21.00), Dance Department with Ivo van Breukelen (21.00-23.00), Martin Garrix (23.00-00.00), Lucas & Steve (00.00-01.00), Tiësto (01.00-2.00) and finally David Guetta (02.00-03.00). This is followed by two Non-stop programs. On Sunday during the day, Bas Menting (06:00-10:00), Mart Meijer (10:00-13:00) and Mark Labrand (13.00-16:00) present the 53N8 Top 50 Non-stop (16:00-19:00) one after the other. On Sunday evening you can listen to Jaimy de Ruijter (19.00-22.00) and Igmar Felicia (22.00-00.00).
News
Every hour also on the half-hour, the
news
News is information about current events. This may be provided through many different Media (communication), media: word of mouth, printing, Mail, postal systems, broadcasting, Telecommunications, electronic communication, or through the tes ...
is broadcast, which is provided by the
Algemeen Nederlands Persbureau
The Algemeen Nederlands Persbureau BV (ANP) is the largest news agency in the Netherlands. ANP was founded on 11 December 1934 by the association of Dutch newspapers (NDP). The news agency's founders sought to produce a fast, fair and accurat ...
(ANP). The regular newsreaders on Radio 538 are:
*
Roelof Hemmen
*
Jo van Egmond
*
Mart Grol
Mart may refer to:
* Mart, or marketplace, a location where people regularly gather for the purchase and sale of provisions, livestock, and other goods
* Mart (broadcaster), a local broadcasting station in Amsterdam
* Mart (given name)
* Mart (Syr ...
At other times the news is read by newscasters associated with the ANP.
Spinoffs
In 1999, Radio 538 started the
hip-hop and
contemporary R&B
Contemporary R&B (or simply R&B) is a popular music genre that combines rhythm and blues with elements of pop, soul, funk, hip hop, and electronic music.
The genre features a distinctive record production style, drum machine-backed rhythm ...
program ''Juize'', which developed into the radio station
Juize.FM on 18 July 2004. Since 1 July 2005, Juize FM is broadcast in most of the Netherlands by cable and has also started running shows with presenters.
Current DJs
Former DJs
Events
Queen's/King's day
Until 2011 538 organized annually at Queen's Day a big party on the
Museumplein
The Museumplein (; ) is a public space in the Museumkwartier neighbourhood of the Amsterdam-Zuid borough in Amsterdam, Netherlands. Located at the Museumplein are three major museums – the Rijksmuseum, Van Gogh Museum, and Stedelijk Museum � ...
in Amsterdam. Several artists from home and abroad joined there by from 12pm and the day was traditionally ended with a grand musical and visual spectacle of a well-known DJs. At this event, some 300,000 visitors came off. In November 2011 the city of Amsterdam decided that this Queen's Day Party was not allowed to take place in connection with safety. Initially, the 538-party in 2012 at the square near
RAI Amsterdam will be held, but in January of that year it was decided to call off the whole party. After an evaluation of the edition 2012 the city council decided in 2013 to pursue the creation of more scattered, smaller celebrations on Queen's Day. Since King's Day 2014 the big party finds annual place again, but at a different location; in
Breda
Breda () is a city and municipality in the southern part of the Netherlands, located in the province of North Brabant. The name derived from ''brede Aa'' ('wide Aa' or 'broad Aa') and refers to the confluence of the rivers Mark and Aa. Breda has ...
on the
Chasséveld.
538 Schoolawards
From 2005 to 2012 538 reached annual the from the best school in the Netherlands. All secondary schools in the Netherlands were able to register for this election, after which the students could vote for their school. The schools with the most votes went together into battle in the final to win a big school and the 538 Schoolawards title. In 2006 the
Zwijsen College in
Veghel
Veghel () is a town and a former municipality in the southern Netherlands. On 1 January 2017 Veghel, together with Schijndel and Sint-Oedenrode, merged into a new municipality called Meierijstad creating the largest municipality of the provinc ...
won. In 2007 the prize was won by
Adelbert College
Case Western Reserve University (CWRU) is a private research university in Cleveland, Ohio. Case Western Reserve was established in 1967, when Western Reserve University, founded in 1826 and named for its location in the Connecticut Western Rese ...
in
Wassenaar
Wassenaar (; population: in ) is a municipality and town located in the province of South Holland, on the western coast of the Netherlands.
An affluent suburb of The Hague, Wassenaar lies north of that city on the N44/A44 highway near the Nort ...
, in 2008 by
CSG Willem van Oranje in
Oud-Beijerland
Oud-Beijerland () is a town and former municipality in the western Netherlands, in the province of South Holland, now a part of the Hoeksche Waard municipality. With a population of 24,575 in 2020, it is the most populous town of the Hoeksche Waard ...
, in 2009 by the
Baudartius College
Baudartius College is a Dutch Protestant secondary school in Zutphen, named after the theologian Willem Baudartius. It will be phased out from year 2019–2020, and all new students will go to a new school called "Het Eligant"
External links
O ...
in
Zutphen
Zutphen () is a city and municipality located in the province of Gelderland, Netherlands. It lies some 30 km northeast of Arnhem, on the eastern bank of the river Ijssel at the point where it is joined by the Berkel. First mentioned in the 1 ...
, in 2010 by
Het Baarnsch Lyceum in
Baarn
Baarn () is a municipality and a town in the Netherlands, near Hilversum in the province of Utrecht.
The municipality of Baarn
The municipality of Baarn consists of the following towns: Baarn, Eembrugge, Lage Vuursche.
The town of Baarn
Ba ...
, in 2011 by
Sg Spieringshoek in
Schiedam
Schiedam () is a city and municipality in the west of the Netherlands. It is located in the Rotterdam–The Hague metropolitan area, west of Rotterdam, east of Vlaardingen, and south of Delft. In the south the city is connected with the village ...
and in 2012 by
Kalsbeek College in
Woerden
Woerden () is a city and a municipality in central Netherlands. Due to its central location between Amsterdam, Rotterdam, The Hague, and Utrecht, and the fact that it has rail and road connections to those cities, it is a popular town for commu ...
. From 2013
SLAM!FM
SLAM! (Sound Lifestyle And More, stylized as ►SLAM! and previously SLAM!FM) is a Dutch commercial national radio station that plays current-based rhythmic and dance hits. SLAM! has a strong commitment in breaking new dance music. The playlist a ...
took the School Awards over from 538. From now called the .
Turn up the Beach
On July 9, 2011 538 organized in collaboration with Spa Reine the beach festival
Turn up the Beach
Turn may refer to:
Arts and entertainment
Dance and sports
* Turn (dance and gymnastics), rotation of the body
* Turn (swimming), reversing direction at the end of a pool
* Turn (professional wrestling), a transition between face and heel
* Turn, ...
. This first edition on the beach of IJmuiden was a great success. All 10,000 tickets were sold. On July 14, 2012, 538 organized in collaboration with Pepsi the second edition of Turn up the Beach. On July 13, 2013 was the third edition of Turn up the beach.
538 JingleBall
On December 22, 2012 Radio 538 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 ...
organized the price show and music festival 538 JingleBall in the
Ziggo Dome
The Ziggo Dome ( or ) is an indoor arena in Amsterdam, Netherlands, located next to the Johan Cruijff ArenA. It is named after the Dutch cable TV provider Ziggo. In 2014, the Ziggo Dome Awards were announced, recognizing artists who performed at ...
. This first edition was a great success. This show was organized because Radio 538 existed 20 years in 2012. On December 21, 2013 was the second edition of 538 JingleBall, this time there was only dance music ran by Dutch DJ's. Even before the second edition was held Radio 538 had announced that there would be a third edition of 538 JingleBall. It was held on December 19 and December 20, 2014.
538 Oranjeplein
If the Netherlands is joining a
UEFA European Championship
The UEFA European Football Championship, less formally the European Championship and informally the Euro, is the primary association football tournament organised by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA). The competition is contes ...
or
FIFA World Cup
The FIFA World Cup, often simply called the World Cup, is an international association football competition contested by the senior men's national teams of the members of the ' ( FIFA), the sport's global governing body. The tournament ha ...
, Radio 538 organizes the 538 Oranjeplein on the Museumplein in Amsterdam. People can watch all matches of the
Dutch national team jointly on large screens at the Museumplein. During the 2014 World Cup the Oranjeplein was however after the eighth finals no longer held since the times of the matches that followed because of the time difference with Brazil were too late and the inconvenience was too large for local residents. During the semi-finals, however, it organized an Oranjeplein again, but in a different location, the Arena Park, next to the
Amsterdam Arena
The Johan Cruyff Arena ( nl, Johan Cruijff Arena ; officially stylised as Johan Cruijff ArenA) is the main stadium of the Dutch capital city of Amsterdam and the home stadium of football club AFC Ajax since its opening. Built from 1993 to 1996 ...
.
The Voice of Holland
Radio 538 broadcasts during
The Voice of Holland
''The Voice of Holland'', also known as ''TVOH'', is a Dutch reality TV singing competition, that became a near global TV format franchise, created by media tycoon John de Mol and musician Roel van Velzen, in the Netherlands airing on RTL 4.
...
together with
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 ...
the live shows of the talent.
Actions
Hier met je rekening!
An annual item ''Hier met je rekening!'' (English: Here is your bill!). With this action 538 pays the accounts of listeners. To join it, the listener must send an email with a copy of the bill plus the description and amount of the bill. The account can also be uploaded on the website of Radio 538 using a special form which is for and during the action to find on this site. The entries will be once per hour a name called. The person who is involved should then call to the studio within fifteen minutes, then his or her account is paid (Radio 538 then makes the total amount of the account to the account of the listener so that it can pay on account of this). From 2014 538 also pays bills via
Twitter
Twitter is an online social media and social networking service owned and operated by American company Twitter, Inc., on which users post and interact with 280-character-long messages known as "tweets". Registered users can post, like, and ...
. On the Twitter page of Radio 538 during the action a submitted bill appears and the one who recognizes this bill must then retweet within fifteen minutes, after which the bill will be paid. This action takes place twice a year, in January, after the Christmas holidays and in August/September, after the summer holidays, because people in these two holidays to spend much money on groceries for
Christmas dinner
Christmas dinner is a meal traditionally eaten at Christmas. This meal can take place any time from the evening of Christmas Eve to the evening of Christmas Day itself. The meals are often particularly rich and substantial, in the tradition of ...
(in the holidays) or souvenirs and trips during the holidays (in the Summer) and then often left with little money to pay for other often high bills that often lie thereby. Radio 538 assists over here to pay them a hand by these accounts.
53J8
Here there is a secret person, better known as Mr. X that passes through the land.
Every day, he is at a different location. On which location the listener gets little tips on the radio. The listener who finds on this basis Mr. X, receives 50 000, - euro note. If he was somewhere he sticks a sticker to and tells at the end of the day where he has been.
538 voor War Child
''538 voor War Child'' was an action that took place from March 25 to April 1, 2011, from March 9 to March 16, 2012 and from March 22 to March 29, 2013.
During the action the money was collected for
War Child, an organization designed to help children cope with their
war trauma
War is an intense armed conflict between states, governments, societies, or paramilitary groups such as mercenaries, insurgents
An insurgency is a violent, armed rebellion against authority waged by small, lightly armed bands who p ...
. Listeners of the radio station came up with the stunts that were done during the week of action, and that money was raised. Every day was 538 with a mobile studio on a different place in the Netherlands.
The places where 538 in 2012 was a guest was:
Maastricht
Maastricht ( , , ; li, Mestreech ; french: Maestricht ; es, Mastrique ) is a city and a municipality in the southeastern Netherlands. It is the capital and largest city of the province of Limburg. Maastricht is located on both sides of the ...
,
's-Hertogenbosch
s-Hertogenbosch (), colloquially known as Den Bosch (), is a city and municipality in the Netherlands with a population of 157,486. It is the capital of the province of North Brabant and its fourth largest by population. The city is south of th ...
,
Nijmegen
Nijmegen (;; Spanish and it, Nimega. Nijmeegs: ''Nimwèège'' ) is the largest city in the Dutch province of Gelderland and tenth largest of the Netherlands as a whole, located on the Waal river close to the German border. It is about 6 ...
,
Hilversum
Hilversum () is a city and municipality in the province of North Holland, Netherlands. Located in the heart of the Gooi, it is the largest urban centre in that area. It is surrounded by heathland, woods, meadows, lakes, and smaller towns. Hilvers ...
,
Alphen aan den Rijn
Alphen aan den Rijn (; en, "Alphen upon Rhine" or "Alphen on the Rhine") is a city and municipality in the western Netherlands, in the province of South Holland. The city is situated on the banks of the river Oude Rijn (Old Rhine), where the r ...
,
Meppel,
Leeuwarden
Leeuwarden (; fy, Ljouwert, longname=yes /; Town Frisian: ''Liwwadden''; Leeuwarder dialect: ''Leewarden'') is a city and municipality in Friesland, Netherlands, with a population of 123,107 (2019). It is the provincial capital and seat of the ...
and
Groningen
Groningen (; gos, Grunn or ) is the capital city and main municipality of Groningen province in the Netherlands. The ''capital of the north'', Groningen is the largest place as well as the economic and cultural centre of the northern part of t ...
. Performances were given by, among other
Pearl Jozefzoon,
Glennis Grace
Glenda Hulita Elisabeth Batta (born 19 June 1978), known professionally as Glennis Grace, is a Dutch singer. In 2005, she Netherlands in the Eurovision Song Contest 2005, represented the Netherlands in the Eurovision Song Contest 2005, 50th editi ...
,
Hardwell
Robbert van de Corput (; born January 7, 1988), known professionally as Hardwell, is a Dutch DJ and music producer from Breda. He was voted the world's number one DJ by ''DJ Mag'' in 2013 and again in 2014. In 2022, he was ranked at number 43 i ...
,
Ben Saunders,
Iris Kroes
Iris Kroes (born 11 November 1992 in Drachten) is a Dutch singer-songwriter and harpist (She was called ''Harpmeisje'' (Dutch for ''Harp Girl'')). She was the winner of the second season of the television program ''The Voice of Holland'' on Janua ...
,
VanVelzen
Roel van Velzen (; born 20 March 1978), better known as VanVelzen, is a Dutch singer-songwriter. Besides being known for his short stature, he and his band enjoy a huge live reputation; they have played at virtually every festival in the Nether ...
,
Ferry Corsten
Ferry Corsten (; born 4 December 1973) is a Dutch disc jockey, record producer and remixer from Rotterdam. He is well known for producing many pioneering trance tracks during the 1990s–2000s under his numerous aliases, including System F, Moon ...
,
Destine
Destine was a Dutch rock band that formed in Tilburg, the Netherlands in 2006.
History
Originally from the Netherlands, the five youngsters joined forces in 2006 and released the ''A Dozen Dreams EP''. After that, a time of intensive touring f ...
,
Waylon,
Di-rect
Di-rect is a rock band from The Hague, the Netherlands, which was formed in 1999. The current line-up consists of Jamie Westland (drums), Frans "Spike" van Zoest (guitar), Bas van Wageningen (bass), Paul Jan Bakker (guitar) and Marcel Veenenda ...
,
Charly Luske
Charles René Pierre (Charly) Luske-Jess (born 19 September 1978) is a Dutch singer, actor, television presenter, and voice actor.
Career
He played the role of Ray in several episodes of the soap opera ''Goede Tijden, slechte Tijden'', the r ...
,
Racoon,
Lange Frans
Frans Christiaan Frederiks (born 12 November 1980), known by his stage name Lange Frans, is a Dutch rapper and television presenter. From 1997 to 2004 he was a member of the band D-Men. Between 1997 and 2009 he was part of the Lange Frans & Baas B ...
and
Xander de Buisonjé
Alexander Serge de Buisonjé (born 19 July 1973) is a Dutch singer who performs in Dutch and English. He is also a TV presenter most well known for presenting ''Vrienden van Amstel LIVE!'' (2010) and ''Vrienden van Amstel zingen Kroonjuwelen'' (2 ...
.
In 2013, 538 was a guest in: Groningen,
Heerenveen
Heerenveen (, fry, It Hearrenfean ) is a town and municipality in the province of Friesland (Fryslân), in the Northern Netherlands. In 2021, the town had a population of 29,790 (1 January) while the municipality had a population 50,859 (1 July). ...
,
Alkmaar
Alkmaar () is a city and municipality in the Netherlands, located in the province of North Holland, about 30 km north of Amsterdam. Alkmaar is well known for its traditional cheese market. For tourists, it is a popular cultural destination. The ...
,
Gouda,
Bergen op Zoom
Bergen op Zoom (; called ''Berrege'' in the local dialect) is a municipality and a city located in the south of the Netherlands.
Etymology
The city was built on a place where two types of soil meet: sandy soil and marine clay. The sandy soil p ...
,
Veenendaal
Veenendaal () is a municipality and a town in central Netherlands, located in the province of Utrecht. Veenendaal is the only population centre within its administrative borders. The municipality had a population of 67.601 inhabitants on 1 january ...
,
Arnhem
Arnhem ( or ; german: Arnheim; South Guelderish: ''Èrnem'') is a city and municipality situated in the eastern part of the Netherlands about 55 km south east of Utrecht. It is the capital of the province of Gelderland, located on both banks of ...
and 's-Hertogenbosch.
On May 1, 2013 it was announced that 538 stops 538 for War Child.
Win met de zin
''Win met de zin'' (English: Win with the sentence) is a game that was first played on August 25, 2014. From this year, this game is played twice a year, in February and August. In this game listeners are required to guess the names of four celebrity voices. Each will say a part of the sentence "The Beat / Of The Moment / Radio / 538" (in 2017 "Eén station / Alle hits / Radio / 538" and from 2018 "Win Met De Zin / = 538 / Radio / = 538"). The starting price is €1000 and for each failed attempt €100 was added to the prize fund. The jackpot is won by the listener who does well all four votes. Then start a new round. The game is played every hour between 7:00 and 19:00.
Owners
Radio 538 was founded in 1992 by
Lex Harding
Lex or LEX may refer to:
Arts and entertainment
* ''Lex'', a daily featured column in the ''Financial Times''
Games
* Lex, the mascot of the word-forming puzzle video game ''Bookworm''
* Lex, the protagonist of the word-forming puzzle video ga ...
. In 1995 Lex Harding founded the TV channel
TMF (''The Music Factory''). Both stations aired from the same building and worked together a lot.
Erik de Zwart
Erik de Zwart (born 16 June 1957 in Amsterdam) is a Dutch broadcaster, former D.J., former Music Box, The Music Factory and MTV V.J. and media entrepreneur.
He was co-founder and shareholder of Radio 538 (1992) and The Music Factory (1995).
P ...
became the new director of Radio 538. In late 2002 Erik de Zwart moved to Talpa Radio International.
In December 2003, Radio 538 was sold to the investment fund Advent International. Lex Harding retained 10% of the shares.
On May 23, 2005 Radio 538 was fully acquired by
Talpa Talpa may refer to:
Places
* Talpa, Iran, a village in Khuzestan Province, Iran
* Talpa, Teleorman, a commune in Teleorman County, Romania
* Talpa, a village in Cândeşti Commune, Botoşani County, Romania
* Talpa, a village in Bârgăuani Com ...
by
John de Mol
Johannes Hendrikus Hubert "John" de Mol Jr. (born 24 April 1955) is a Dutch Mass media, media Business magnate, tycoon. De Mol is one of the men behind production companies Endemol and Talpa Network, Talpa. He created the reality television form ...
and Lex Harding took definitely goodbye. Together with
Radio 10 Gold
Radio 10 (formerly : ''Radio 10 Gold'' and ''Radio 10 FM'') is a Dutch commercial radio station that mostly focuses on songs from the 1970s to 2000s, with a moderate amount of mid-1960s' and 2010s' hits. It is one of the oldest, still remaining, c ...
, which already owned by Talpa, Radio 538 was brought under the management of
Talpa Radio
Talpa Radio (formerly: ''538 Group'' and ''Sky Radio Group'') is a radio company of ''Talpa Network'', in which various radio and television activities are housed.
History
The company started in 2002 when John de Mol Jr. bought ''Qmusic (Nethe ...
(since 2006: Talpa Media). Until that moment, Talpa, next to Radio 10 Gold, also owned
Noordzee FM. Because it was not allowed under the provisions of the 2003 frequency to two general, possess national commercial radio broadcasters, Talpa was forced to sell Noordzee FM. The Flemish company
De Persgroep
DPG Media Group is a Belgian media company also active in the Netherlands and Denmark. It is owned by the Van Thillo family and employs some 6,000 people.
Divisions
The DPG Media Group operates through three national subsidiaries:
* DPG Media ...
took Noordzee FM and renamed the station few months later to
Q-music. De Persgroep does not have to pay anything for Noordzee FM to Talpa.
On October 1, 2007 Radio 538, along with various programs from the television channel
Tien was taken over by
RTL Nederland
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 dut ...
. On January 1, 2012 Radio 538 was, like its sister stations
Radio 10 Gold
Radio 10 (formerly : ''Radio 10 Gold'' and ''Radio 10 FM'') is a Dutch commercial radio station that mostly focuses on songs from the 1970s to 2000s, with a moderate amount of mid-1960s' and 2010s' hits. It is one of the oldest, still remaining, c ...
and
Slam!FM
SLAM! (Sound Lifestyle And More, stylized as ►SLAM! and previously SLAM!FM) is a Dutch commercial national radio station that plays current-based rhythmic and dance hits. SLAM! has a strong commitment in breaking new dance music. The playlist a ...
, taken over again by Talpa Holding. This was a result of a transaction between RTL Group and Talpa Holding, which has been an exchange of shares and sale to the order. RTL Group owned back all shares in RTL Nederland Holding since January 1, 2015, while Talpa became again the 100% owner of Radio 538. All this is a result of participation by Talpa Holding in
SBS Broadcasting
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 ...
.
Sister stations
TV 538 is a television channel which started in 2011 as a TV channel of Radio 538. In addition, the station has a number of digital channels that link to Radio 538, like 53L8, 538NL and 538IBIZA.
See also
*
List of radio stations in the Netherlands
This is a list of radio stations in the Netherlands.
National
Public
Public radio in the Netherlands is provided jointly by a number of broadcasting organizations operating within the framework of the Netherlands Public Broadcasting (NPO). New ...
References
External links
*
Radio 538 business websiteRadio 538 Fanclub
{{Radio stations in the Netherlands
Radio stations in the Netherlands
Radio stations established in 1992
1992 establishments in the Netherlands
Adult top 40 radio stations
Mass media in Hilversum
Music in Hilversum
Talpa Network