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Television in Belgium
Television in Belgium was introduced in 1953 and began with one channel each in Dutch and French. The country is heavily cabled, with 93% of households watching television through cable as of 2003.
The three Belgian Communities – Dutch, French and German-speaking – have legal responsibility for audiovisual communication. They constitute separate markets, the common feature of which is the fact that they have been extensively cabled for three decades and are thus able to receive neighbouring countries' channels.
From 1930 broadcasting in Belgium was in the hands of National Institute of Radio Broadcasting (Nationaal Institut voor Radio-omroep, NIR; Institut national de radiodiffusion, INR). The organisation had separate services on TV and Radio in Flemish and French. In 1960 this organisation was split up into two organisation responsible to the Flemish and Walloon communities for public radio and television services. BRT (Belgische Radio en Televisie), now VRT (Vlaamse Radio- en Televisieomroeporganisatie), for the Flemish community and 1978, RTB (Radiodiffusion-télévision belge), now RTBF, for the Walloon (Francophone) community. There were also radio programmes for German-speaking Belgians who since 1965 have a separate organisation now known as BRF.[circular reference]
VRT and RTBF share broadcasting facilities in Brussels, while BRF operates from Eupen. VRT broadcasts in Flanders and RTBF in Wallonia. Both RTBF and VRT broadcast in Brussels Capital Region.
There are no national TV channels in Belgium. Because of the language divide, there are only channels either in Dutch or French, there is no single company operating TV channels in both the Flemish and the French part. Media laws are created and controlled on a regional level (Flemish or French). Thus the Flemish channels are controlled by Flemish law and the French-speaking ones are controlled by the French community. The public broadcasters still share a building in Brussels, a leftover from the time when the Public Television was still a national (Belgian) competence, however, they have split operations altogether with French language broadcaster RTBF occupying the right half of the building and Flemish broadcaster VRT occupying the left half of the building. They are both governed by different law and a different parliament an example of this is the fact that the French languages public broadcaster RTBF is allowed to sell advertising on television and have actual ad breaks, while the Flemish public broadcaster can only sell product placement and sponsor billboards on television. On their radio channels both are allowed to sell full ad breaks. Both public broadcasters also work in a completely different competitive environment.[citation needed]
The two main Belgian public TV networks, VRT in the Flemish Community and RTBF in the French Community of Belgium, broadcast their channels via operators using cable, satellite, IPTV and digital terrestrial television (DVB-T2). In the French community of Belgium the channels of RTBF can be received by DVB-T2 free of charge. The privately owned channels of the French community are not available on digital terrestrial television. In the Flemish part of Belgium all channels of the public tv (VRT) and the most important privately owned channels are available on all platforms (including DVB-T2), however the public TV is not available free of charge through DVB-T2 but part of a subscription service that includes the most important privately owned channels as well. This subscription is offered by TV Vlaanderen which also offers satellite tv subscriptions.
In the Flemish part there are three main broadcast groups:
These three broadcast groups combined generate about 80% of the total market share daily with VRT being the biggest with a market share of just above 36% (all channels combined), DPG Media taking about 31% (all channels combined) and SBS Belgium taking about 12% (all channels combined).
The channels één and vtm are the main players in terms of daily newscasts and local content with primetime being filled for 90% with local productions or local versions of international formats. Vier(4) also has started programming mainly local productions in the primetime slot. All other channels air a majority of international (mostly US made) productions in original language (English) with subtitles. The only exception is children's programming which is dubbed in Dutch.
Apart from these main groups there are dozens of other local or localised versions of other channels. e.g. MTV, Nickelodeon, National Geographic, and Discovery Channel.
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Television in Belgium
Television in Belgium was introduced in 1953 and began with one channel each in Dutch and French. The country is heavily cabled, with 93% of households watching television through cable as of 2003.
The three Belgian Communities – Dutch, French and German-speaking – have legal responsibility for audiovisual communication. They constitute separate markets, the common feature of which is the fact that they have been extensively cabled for three decades and are thus able to receive neighbouring countries' channels.
From 1930 broadcasting in Belgium was in the hands of National Institute of Radio Broadcasting (Nationaal Institut voor Radio-omroep, NIR; Institut national de radiodiffusion, INR). The organisation had separate services on TV and Radio in Flemish and French. In 1960 this organisation was split up into two organisation responsible to the Flemish and Walloon communities for public radio and television services. BRT (Belgische Radio en Televisie), now VRT (Vlaamse Radio- en Televisieomroeporganisatie), for the Flemish community and 1978, RTB (Radiodiffusion-télévision belge), now RTBF, for the Walloon (Francophone) community. There were also radio programmes for German-speaking Belgians who since 1965 have a separate organisation now known as BRF.[circular reference]
VRT and RTBF share broadcasting facilities in Brussels, while BRF operates from Eupen. VRT broadcasts in Flanders and RTBF in Wallonia. Both RTBF and VRT broadcast in Brussels Capital Region.
There are no national TV channels in Belgium. Because of the language divide, there are only channels either in Dutch or French, there is no single company operating TV channels in both the Flemish and the French part. Media laws are created and controlled on a regional level (Flemish or French). Thus the Flemish channels are controlled by Flemish law and the French-speaking ones are controlled by the French community. The public broadcasters still share a building in Brussels, a leftover from the time when the Public Television was still a national (Belgian) competence, however, they have split operations altogether with French language broadcaster RTBF occupying the right half of the building and Flemish broadcaster VRT occupying the left half of the building. They are both governed by different law and a different parliament an example of this is the fact that the French languages public broadcaster RTBF is allowed to sell advertising on television and have actual ad breaks, while the Flemish public broadcaster can only sell product placement and sponsor billboards on television. On their radio channels both are allowed to sell full ad breaks. Both public broadcasters also work in a completely different competitive environment.[citation needed]
The two main Belgian public TV networks, VRT in the Flemish Community and RTBF in the French Community of Belgium, broadcast their channels via operators using cable, satellite, IPTV and digital terrestrial television (DVB-T2). In the French community of Belgium the channels of RTBF can be received by DVB-T2 free of charge. The privately owned channels of the French community are not available on digital terrestrial television. In the Flemish part of Belgium all channels of the public tv (VRT) and the most important privately owned channels are available on all platforms (including DVB-T2), however the public TV is not available free of charge through DVB-T2 but part of a subscription service that includes the most important privately owned channels as well. This subscription is offered by TV Vlaanderen which also offers satellite tv subscriptions.
In the Flemish part there are three main broadcast groups:
These three broadcast groups combined generate about 80% of the total market share daily with VRT being the biggest with a market share of just above 36% (all channels combined), DPG Media taking about 31% (all channels combined) and SBS Belgium taking about 12% (all channels combined).
The channels één and vtm are the main players in terms of daily newscasts and local content with primetime being filled for 90% with local productions or local versions of international formats. Vier(4) also has started programming mainly local productions in the primetime slot. All other channels air a majority of international (mostly US made) productions in original language (English) with subtitles. The only exception is children's programming which is dubbed in Dutch.
Apart from these main groups there are dozens of other local or localised versions of other channels. e.g. MTV, Nickelodeon, National Geographic, and Discovery Channel.