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Media Landscape - Netherlands, The

INTRODUCTION

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The Netherlands is a densely populated country; 16.5 million people live on 34 thousand square kilometers. Three big parties dominated the political arena for the last decades: the socialists (PvdA), the Christian party (CDA) and the liberals (VVD); in different combinations they have formed coalitions. In 2002 the popular politician Pim Fortuyn was murdered just before the general elections, this shook the Dutch political system as it was the first political murder after the Second World War.

Fortuyn focused in his campaign on social issues like the integration of foreigners, rising crime and the welfare state and was about to cause a landslide in the Dutch political system. His party, however, proved to be without direction after his death. The murder also led to discussions about the role of the media, which were accused of being indifferent to problems of ‘common’ people. At the same time many media felt economic pressures. Print media, in particular paid newspapers, saw circulation decline, the TV-landscape showed signs of fragmentation and rising commercialism while new media were luring away users from traditional media although in many cases without making real online profits.


1. WRITTEN PRESS

The Netherlands has a relatively high readership of newspapers and magazines but there is a decline in paid circulation. For every 100 households 55 copies of paid daily newspapers were distributed in 2005, meaning a daily circulation of 3.8 million copies.

Print media are very concentrated and there is a growing foreign ownership. Three publishers control 90% of the paid newspaper circulation. PCM, publisher of four national dailies (de Volkskrant, NRC Handelsblad, AD and Trouw) is owned by UK-investor APAX; Amsterdam local paper Het Parool is owned by the Belgian Persgroep while two papers in Limburg are owned since 2006 by UK-investor Mecom (David Montgomery). Almost half of the total circulation of paid newspapers can be attributed to the national daily press. There are seven national daily newspapers. Circulation of paid dailies is going down by 2 to 4% every year for the last five years. De Telegraaf is still the paper with the highest paid circulation in the Netherlands (650,000 copies), the new Algemeen Dagblad, which merged with several regional titles, has a circulation of 460,000.

Nine regional newspapers have a circulation of more than 100,000 in 2005 with Dagblad de Limburger (circulation 174,000) as the biggest. One-paper-cities are common in the Netherlands because of heavy concentration in the daily regional press. The last major operation was the merger of national daily Algemeen Dagblad with seven regional papers. Only seven independent publishers remain (in 1970 there were 35 independent publishers, in 1980 24). The majority of the circulation is controlled by publishers of regional newspapers. The market share of free dailies is growing: there are two free dailies in the Netherlands: Spits (by de Telegraaf) and Metro (Metro International), both distribute ±450,000 copies through public transport, restaurants, universities, shopping centers and other crowded places. Both papers started in 1999.

The newspapers innovations include tabloids, Sunday editions, web editions, multi-media, new sections, magazines, convergence etc. There are at least 8000 different magazine titles available for Dutch readers. The circulation of traditional magazines is going down, Publishers therefore are launching new titles that might interest readers. More than half of the circulation of general interest magazines is published by the Finnish publisher Sanoma. Print has high but also declining share of advertising.


2. AUDIOVISUAL MEDIA

There are signs of fragmentation with a rising amount of commercial broadcasters, the share of foreign ownership is high. The Dutch Media system is dominated by commercial channels on the one hand and a strong public broadcasting system on the other, although there are no national government-owned television or radio stations. This is a unique system of public broadcasting through private organizations.

Organizations are independent; the government cannot interfere with programming. A Dutch television viewer can receive three public national channels, two ‘foreign channels’ (Luxembourg-based) and five commercial Dutch channels. An average cable-network contains apart from the ten national Dutch-language-channels at least one regional or local channel, two Belgian Dutch language channels, Dutch MTV and one or two other Dutch music channels, Dutch spoken or Dutch subtitled special interest channels (Discovery, Eurosports, National Geographic), BBC 1 and BBC 2, German channels and a choice from TV5 (France), RAI Uno (Italy), TVE (Spain), TRT (Turley), CNN etc. - 25 to 30 channels is normal.

Cable-penetration is one of the highest in Europe: ±95%. In December 2006 the analogue signal was shut down – digital TV is available in every part of the country. There is an average of 40 radio stations available, five of them Dutch national public channels. TV viewing-time still rising: in 1988 the average Dutch viewer spent two hours (124 minutes) in front of his TV-set, this rose to 195 minutes in 2005. The (Luxembourg) commercial station RTL4 and public channel Nederland 2 were the most popular stations in 2005 (both 16% market share); commercial broadcasters together have seen their market share rise to 50% in 2005; the three public channels lost viewers and now have a market share of 35% (table 1).


Table 1 Market shares TV broadcasting in the Netherlands 1990-2005

1990

1994

2000

2005

National public broadcasters

62

51

39

35

Commercial broadcasters

21

32

46

50

Rest: international, regional, VCR

17

17

17

15


The Dutch listen to the radio for more than three hours daily. It is divided between public broadcasting (44% market share) and commercial stations (49%). The rest goes to small commercial broadcasters, local and foreign stations.


Table 2 Market shares radio in the Netherlands 1997-2006 (June/July)

1997

2001

2006

Regional broadcasting

16

14

15

National public broadcasting

33

31

28

Commercial/others

51

56

57


The advertising revenues are rising: in 2005 Dutch advertisers spent about 4.3 billion euros on advertising, an increase of 1.5 percent compared to 2004. Daily newspapers have a market share of 20 percent, while television has 18 percent. Advertising on the Internet is rising sharply with an almost 50 percent growth in 2005 to a total of 97 million Euros, a share of 2.25 percent of total advertising spending in 2005. In the first half of 2006 advertising expenditure increased with 4.6 percent, showing a recovery after years of slow economy. Of the print media the daily newspapers still face a decline in advertising revenues in 2006.


Table 3 Advertising revenues and market shares x € million (2002-2005)



2002

2003

2004

2005

SHARES in 2005

Print Media

2.486

2.292

2.208

2.212

51%

Daily Newspapers

987

907

859

844

20%

Free local newspapers

614

586

583

588

14%

Magazines

395

359

342

349

8%

Professional journals

490

441

424

431

10%

Audiovisual media

962

998

1.012

1.038

24%

Television

730

746

757

779

18%

Radio

224

245

250

253

6%

Cinema

7,4

7

6

7

0,16%

Internet

32

40

66

97

2%

Total Media

3.480

3.330

3.286

3.347

78%

Other advertising media

948

951

955

961

22%

Total advertising

4.428

4.281

4.241

4.308

100%


Source: VEA 2006.

From December 2006 on all TV-signals are broadcast in digital format only. Dutch public broadcasters offer all their own productions online via the website “uitzendinggemist.nl”.


3. NEWS AGENCIES

Traditionally the most important news agency is ANP (Algemeen Nederlands Persbureau). In 2000 ANP became an independent company and in 2003 an investment company (NPM Capital NV) acquired the majority of the shares, leaving the rest in the hands of the newspapers publishers.

There is a rising competition because of new media outlets. Novum Nieuws was founded in 1999 and its position might become more important by the planned cooperation with the GPD (Geassocieerde Pers Diensten), a joint news service run by 20 regional newspapers. Associated Press is the only foreign news agency with an office in The Netherlands.


4. ONLINE MEDIA

The Internet use in high and diverse. 10 million Dutch use the internet on a regular basis, which amounts to almost 70% of the population over 6 years old. They use the internet mainly for seeking information, buying online, banking and communication like chat and mailing (MSN).

Many people connect to the internet through broadband, 60% of the Dutch homes have a cable or ADSL connection, only Iceland has a higher broadband penetration in Europe. The amount of internet host is almost 7 million in the Netherlands.


5. MEDIA ORGANIZATIONS

In Dutch journalism the most important organization is the Dutch Association of Journalists (Nederlandse Vereniging van Journalisten, NVJ), which is a combination of a trade union and a professional organization, having about 9,000 members.

Reporters covering parliament in The Hague can join the Parliamentary Press Association (Parlementaire Pers Vereniging PVV). Foreign correspondents can become a member of the Foreign Press Association of the Netherlands (Buitenlandse Persvereniging in Nederland, BPV). The Dutch Society of Chief Editors (Nederlands Genootschap van Hoofdredacteuren) issued a journalistic code in 1995 and functions as an important platform for debate. The Dutch publishers are organized in the Dutch Publishers Association (Nederlands Uitgeversverbond), which organizes publishers of daily newspapers, as well as magazines, professional and scientific journals and books (general and educational). The Dutch Association of local newspapers (Nederlandse Nieuwsbladpers, NNP) organizes publishers of weekly and bi-weekly newspapers and cable news.

Professionals working in the film and television industry are represented by the Professional Association of Film- and Television Workers (Beroepsvereniging van Film- en Televisiemakers, NBF). Two other foundations subsidize media projects: the Dutch Cultural Broadcasting Fund (Het Stimuleringsfonds Nederlandse Culturele Omroepproducties) provides grants to encourage the development and production of cultural radio and television programs. The Foundation for Special Journalistic Projects (Fonds Bijzondere Journalistieke Projecten) supports journalists who want to realize special research projects.

Advertisers are organized in the Association of Dutch Advertisers (BVA, Bond van adverteerders), while advertising agencies are united in the Union of communication consultancy agencies (VEA, Vereniging van Communicatie-adviesbureaus).


6. NATIONAL MEDIA POLICIES

The fundament for Dutch media policy is article 7 of the Constitution. Advertising is excluded from the freedom of speech: there are laws prohibiting or limiting advertising for instance for tobacco, alcohol and medicines.

The Media Law regulates radio and TV, but there is no state supervision (censorship) in advance regarding the content of broadcasted programs. Media policy in the Netherlands is mainly broadcasting policy, defining the organisation of the public broadcasting system. Regarding print media the government’s policy is focused on preventing disruptions of the free market due to vertical and horizontal media concentration. The Commission for the Media supervises the implementation of the media law regarding public, as well as commercial television and cable operators. The Commission allocates broadcasting time to national, regional and local public media and gives licenses to commercial stations. Broadcasting organizations have to meet two criteria to get into the public broadcasting system: they need at least 300,000 supporters and they have to carry out the requirements of the media law to broadcast a prescribed amount of programs in categories like information, culture and education. Public broadcasting organizations also have to produce a certain share of domestic programs.

The Commission also monitors the financial situation of public broadcasting and is authorized to fine the broadcasting organizations for clandestine advertising, illegal sponsoring or commercial sidelines. The Netherlands Competition Authority (NMa, established in 1998) investigates and sanctions cartels and misuse of economic power in all sectors, not only in the media, and assesses mergers and acquisitions. The government is planning to limit concentration in the newspaper market to a maximum share of 35 percent. It was also announced that cross-ownership in newspaper and television will have fewer restrictions in the future. The Dutch Press Fund is an independent authority that supports newspapers, magazines and websites with loans or subsidies.

It also supports research projects and joint efforts to improve minorities’ access to the media. The ‘Television without Frontiers’ EU Directive has now been implemented in Dutch legislation.


7. ACCOUNTABILITY SYSTEMS

Dutch press relies on self regulation through the Journalism Council (Raad voor de Journalistiek). Filing a suit is possible in the case of an unlawful act like slander, libel, insult, etc., all other complaints can be brought before the independent Journalism Council. In Dutch journalism several professional codes have been formulated over the years, which are used by the Council to evaluate complaints. The Council’s verdicts and arguments in turn generate jurisprudence for the codes. Because of freedom of speech this Council is not able to force anyone to render account over his publications or to impose any sanctions (like rectifications). The Council’s verdicts are published in the biweekly magazine of the Dutch Association of Journalists and on the website of the council.

The Dutch press does not have a national press ombudsman like Sweden, but several national and regional newspapers employ their own ombudsman who investigates complaints of readers and who writes critically about the newspapers’ policy. Complaints regarding advertising can be filed at the Advertising Code Commission (Reclame Code Commissie). The Dutch Advertising Code states that advertising should not be deceptive, (unnecessary) hurtful or in conflict with good taste and decency. It is based on self-regulation so only the supporting media-organizations will accept the verdicts of the Commission. The Commission also monitors advertising messages on its own initiative.

Pressures for self-regulation within audio-visual industry resulted in the Kijkwijzer (Watchguide), aimed at protecting young viewers against possible harmful effects. This Watchguide, established in 1997, classifies films, tv-programs, videos and games, to give advice to parents.


8. RECENT DEVELOPMENTS AND FUTURE TRENDS

The relaxing of cross ownership rules is expected. There seems to be a trend for younger people to watch less television. All broadcasters therefore invest in multi-media solutions to reach this disappearing part of the audience. Print media still face declines in circulation. Therefore newspaper publishers will speed up innovation. A substantial part of the existing titles will move to a compact (tabloid) format while all publishers will invest in digital media.


9. AUTHORS

Dr. Piet Bakker (1953) works at the Department of Communications at the University of Amsterdam. Main research areas: media innovation, free daily newspapers, media-economics.

Dr. Peter Vasterman (1951) works at the Department of Media Studies at the University of Amsterdam. Main areas: sociology of journalism, mediahypes and reporting on risk.


10. MEDIA RESOURCES

Newspapers

Audio/Visual Media

Media Institutions

Blogs/Civil Media

Excerpt from EUROPEAN MEDIA GOVERNANCE: THE NATIONAL AND REGIONAL DIMENSIONS, published by Intellect (http://www.intellectbooks.com).

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