Television in the Netherlands

In the Netherlands, television can be watched analog or digital (the latter with the option of HDTV or UHD). Over 2018, 89.2% of Dutch viewers received television digitally.[2] Analogue television is only available via some cable operators and some fiber to the home providers, since the Dutch government ended analogue reception via airwaves in 2006. Dutch largest cable company Ziggo began to phase out the analogue signal in 2018.[3][4] Watching digital television is possible through a variety of ways, the most common being:

• Digital television over cable (in most cases through a set-top box with a smart card or through a Conditional-access module).
  • Ziggo is the major supplier of cable television in the Netherlands. Other companies are Caiway, DELTA, Kabel Noord and a few smaller local companies.
• Satellite television
  • CanalDigitaal and Joyne are the two satellite providers.
• Digital terrestrial television
  • KPN Digitenne is the only terrestrial provider.
• Internet television (IPTV)
  • KPN, Tele2 and T-Mobile are the major suppliers of IPTV.
• Fiber to the home
  • KPN is the major operator of FTTH with its subsidiaries KPN Glasvezel, Glashart and Reggefiber.

Which television channels can be received is heavily dependent on the operator and in most cases also the channel package that is paid for. However, there is a small selection of channels that every operator must carry. Since 2014, these are the following channels:[5]

• NPO 1
• NPO 2
• NPO 3
• één (Flanders (Belgium))
• Canvas (Flanders (Belgium))
• Ketnet (Flanders (Belgium))
• Regional (provincial) broadcasters (when available)
• Local broadcaster (when available)

The Netherlands has three nationwide channels for publicly funded television (NPO). These channels can only make a fixed maximum amount of money from commercials. These commercials never interrupt broadcasts, and are only shown in between shows. The broadcasting organisations that use these channels are basically representative of the Dutch society. Every broadcasting company has members and the number of members gives them a status that is connected to the number of hours of broadcasting. Acceptance or refusal of entry is decided politically on the guidance of public opinion.

In 2005, there was a sharp political debate over government plans to cut funding to public broadcasters and to abolish statutory broadcaster NPS.

While there are many localised versions of international channels meant for the Dutch market, many television providers also broadcast 'domestic television' networks as part of the basic subscription package. Other 'domestic' channels may be received as part of extended packages. Many basic subscriptions include:

In the Netherlands customers can receive high-definition television channels by cable or satellite. Until 2018 there was no terrestrial HD service available. KPN started to switch its digital terrestrial television platform to the DVB-T2 HEVC standard in October 2018,[7] this transition completed on 9 July 2019.[8]

The first trials with high-definition television in the Netherlands began in 2006 with the broadcast of the 2006 World Cup in HD. After the trial the larger cable companies continued a HD service with a small number of channels such as National Geographic Channel HD, Discovery HD Showcase, History HD, Film1 HD and Sport1 HD. The demand for HD was low because no Dutch network had made the move to HD. Broadcasting in widescreen and the quality of the standard-definition PAL signal was good enough for most people.

Since the 2006 trials none of the main Dutch networks made the move to HD. This changed in the summer of 2008 when from 1 June 2008 until 24 August 2008, the Netherlands Public Broadcasting (NPO) organisations made their primary channel, Nederland 1 temporary available in HD. This made it possible to broadcast Euro 2008, the 2008 Tour de France, and the 2008 Summer Olympics in HD and additionally allowed them to test their systems before the scheduled launch of their permanent HD service in early 2009. The NPO planned to launch their permanent HD service with HD versions of their three channels Nederland 1, Nederland 2, and Nederland 3. Most of the programming in the early stages consisted of upscaled material from their SD channels as in time more programs will became available in HD.[9] Technicolor Netherlands, the company responsible for the technical realisation of the broadcasts of the NPOs television and radio channels, began the summer 2008 test broadcast of Nederland 1 1 HD in 720p/50 as the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) recommends. During the test period an additional 1080i/25 version of the channel was made available to the cable companies because of quality complaints from viewers. In 2009 the NPO decided to adopt the 1080i/25 HD standard.[10]

The main commercial broadcasting organizations in the Netherlands the SBS Broadcasting Group (NET 5, SBS 6, Veronica) and the channels of RTL Nederland followed in HD via cable and satellite, using the same HD standard as the NPO.

The first television channels in 4K UHD were officially launched in the Netherlands in 2017. In April 2017 satellite provider CanalDigitaal added Insight TV 4K UHD in its channel line-up.[11] After more than a year of testing KPN launched ultra-high-definition television on 1 July 2017, with Xite 4K and Hispasat 4K TV.[12][13] Eurosport 4K launched in the Netherlands on 5 June 2018.[14] NPO 1 launched its first trials with ultra-high-definition television through KPN, CanalDigitaal and some minor networks on 14 June 2018, using the HLG-standard.[15][16][17]

• 13th Street (30 May 2007 - 1 July 2016)
• Action Now! (16 May 2006 - 31 May 2009)
• Adventure One (1999-2007), replaced by National Geographic Wild (2007–present)
• BBC Prime (1995-2009), replaced by BBC Entertainment (2009–present)
• The Box/The Box Comedy (1995 - 30 April 2007), replaced by Comedy Central (30 April 2007 – present)
• CineNova (18 May 2000 - 18 May 2005)
• Comedy Central Family (1 October 2008 - 31 May 2018), its programmes merged with Comedy Central Extra
• Consumenten 24 (formerly Consumenten TV)
• DanceTrippin TV (2011 - May 2018), rebranded by DanceTelevision (May 2018 – present)
• Discovery Travel & Living (September 1999 - 4 July 2011), replaced by Investigation Discovery and TLC (4 July 2011 – present)
• Disney Junior (3 May 2010 - 1 April 2019), formerly known as Playhouse Disney.
• ESPN America (5 December 2002 - 1 August 2013)
• ESPN Classic (13 March 2006 - 1 August 2013)
• Euro 7 (19 October 1994 - 28 March 1997)
• Family 24
• Film1 Sundance (1 March 2012 - 31 August 2017) / Film1 Festival (1 February 2006 - 1 March 2012)
• Filmnet (1984 - 1997), replaced by Canal+ (1997 - 2006), followed by Film1 (1 February 2006 – present)
• Fine Living (1 September 2015 - 31 January 2019)
• Food Network (22 April 2010[18] - 31 January 2019)
• Fox Kids (2 August 1997 - 12 February 2005), rebranded by Jetix (13 February 2005 - 31 December 2009) followed by Disney XD (1 January 2010 – present)
• Fox Life (7 September 2009 - 31 December 2016)
• Geschiedenis 24 (formerly Geschiedenis)
• Het Gesprek (2 October 2007 - 21 August 2010)
• GoedTV (April 2006 - 6 December 2015)
• Hallmark Channel (June 1995 - 20 July 2011)
• HBO 1/2/3 (9 February 2012 - 31 December 2016)
• JimJam (10 October 2006 - 1 March 2018)
• Kindernet (1 March 1988 - 1 September 2003, 4 April 2011 - 1 November 2013)
• MGM Channel (2001 - 5 November 2014), replaced by AMC (5 November 2014 – 31 December 2018)
• MisdaadNet (1 July 2008 - 1 September 2011), replaced by RTL Crime (1 September 2011 – present)
• Motors TV (1 September 2000 - 28 February 2017), rebranded by Motorsport.tv (1 March 2017 - 30 September 2018)
• NBC Super Channel (30 January 1987 - 30 June 1998), replaced by National Geographic (1 July 1998 – present)
• NostalgieNet (1 January 2006 - 13 September 2015), rebranded by ONS (13 September 2015 – present)
• NPO 3 Extra (31 October 2006 - 25 December 2018), between 2006 and 2014 named 101 TV and between 2014 and 2018 named NPO 101.
• NPO Doc (1 December 2004 as Holland Doc 24 – 1 July 2016)
• NPO Humor TV (15 November 2006 as Humor TV 24 – 1 July 2016)
• RTL-Véronique (2 October 1989 - 17 September 1990), rebranded by RTL 4 (18 September 1990 – present)
• Spirit 24 (formerly Geloven)
• Sport 7 (18 August 1996 - 8 December 1996)
• Sportnet (29 March 1984 - 1 March 1993), merged with Eurosport (5 February 1989 – present)
• Sterren 24 (formerly Sterren.nl)
• Stingray Brava (2007 - 1 March 2019), replaced by Stingray Classica (1 March 2019 – present)
• SuperSport (1995 - 1997), replaced by Canal+ (1997 - 2006) followed by Sport1 (1 February 2006 - 12 November 2015), rebranded by Ziggo Sport Totaal (12 November 2015 – present)
• Syfy (30 May 2007 - 1 July 2016)
• Talpa (13 August 2005 - 15 December 2005), rebranded by Tien (16 December 2005 - 17 August 2007) followed by RTL 8 (18 August 2007 – present)
• TMF (1 May 1995 - 1 September 2011)
• TMF Dance (1 May 2005 - 31 December 2011)
• TMF NL (1 May 2005 - 31 December 2011)
• TMF Pure (1 May 2005 - 31 December 2011)
• TNT Classic Movies (17 September 1993 - 15 October 1999) rebranded by TCM (15 October 1999 - 1 January 2014)
• TNT (24 January 2013 - 1 January 2014)
• Travel Channel (1996[19] - 31 January 2019)
• TV10 (never launched due to license problems, 1989)
• TV10 Gold (1 May 1995 - 31 January 1996), rebranded a couple of times afterwards. First by TV10 (1 February 1996 - 18 December 1998) followed by FOX (19 December 1998 - August 1999), Fox 8 (September 1999 - 30 April 2001), V8 (1 May 2001 - 19 September 2003) and finally by Veronica (20 September 2003 – present)
• Veronica (1 September 1995 - 1 April 2001), rebranded by Yorin (2 April 2001 - 11 August 2005), and again rebranded by RTL 7 (12 August 2005 – present)
• Vesta TV (October 1995 - July 1996)
• Weerkanaal (15 February 2006 - December 2008), rebranded by Weer en Verkeer (December 2008 - 1 October 2013)
• Zone Club (1998 - 1 April 2010)
• Zone Horror (30 October 2006 - 1 July 2009)
• Zone Reality (10 October 2002 - 2 December 2012), rebranded by CBS Reality (2 December 2012 – present)

To serve those who have another native language than Dutch, there are few television channels in the Netherlands broadcasting in one of the regional languages of The Netherlands. Those broadcasting in English usually target an international audience as well. Most of these channels broadcast through the internet only or have a very limited broadcasting area, with Omrop Fryslân as most notable exception. These channels are:

• Omrop Fryslân (Frisian), public access regional broadcaster in the province of Friesland
• Froeks.tv (Frisian), web-only channel for Friesland
• Radio Netherlands Worldwide (English), produces vodcasts on their website in English
• ThreeNL (English), reruns of Dutch public access programmes either English subtitled or dubbed
• AFTV (English), available in The Hague and online, targeting Africans in The Netherlands
• NOS TV (Papiamento), available on Bonaire and online; local Bonaire TV station.
• RTV-7 (Papiamento, English), available on Ziggo, XS4ALL and KPN. Rebroadcast of Antillian TV Channels in the Netherlands

• Digital television in the Netherlands
• History of Dutch television
• Lists of television channels
• List of cable companies in the Netherlands
• Media in the Netherlands

• http://gids.omroep.nl (in Dutch) shows programming of Dutch and other stations of surrounding countries
• http://www.uitzendinggemist.nl (in Dutch) Web site archive of internet-streaming TV programs from the Netherlands
• Dutch public access programmes in English to be watched on YouTube