Nederlandse Publieke Omroep (NPO)

Public service media in the Netherlands has a long history and is modeled upon the social practice of “pillarization” specific for the Dutch society where each community has its own institutions, political parties and media. Broadcasting was launched in the Netherlands in 1951. The Dutch Broadcasting Foundation (Nederlandse Omroep Stichting, NOS), the umbrella organization that coordinates the public media in the country, was created in 1969 through a merger of the Netherlands Radio Union (NRU) and the Netherlands Television Union (NTU). In 2007, Nederlandse Publieke Omroep (NPO) was established as the new umbrella organization for the Dutch public media whereas NOS continued to operate as a member broadcaster of the then newly emerged public media group (NPO).

The Dutch Public Broadcasting System run by the NPO consists of two categories of broadcasters. One are the so-called task broadcasters: NOS (focused on news and current affairs, sports and national events) and NTR (focused on education and culture). The second category comprises nine broadcasting associations that serve a specific target group or represent social or ideological movements.

NPO also runs BVN (Best of Flanders and the Netherlands), a Dutch-speaking channel that caters to Dutch viewers abroad. In the radio segment, NPO runs seven channels.


Media assets

Television: National- NPO 1, NPO 2, NPO 3, NPO Zappelin, NPO Zapp; International- BVN TV

Radio: NPO Radio 1, NPO Radio 2, NPO 3 FM, NPO Klassiek, NPO Radio 5, NPO Fun X

State Media Matrix Typology: Independent State-Funded (ISF)


Ownership and governance

The Dutch public broadcasting system is run by NPO, a foundation, which coordinates a group of public service radio and television broadcasters representing various communities. The broadcast time that they receive for their programs is decided by law, namely the Dutch Media Act of 2008. The aim of this policy is to ensure that each social group in the Dutch society has a voice in the country’s media. 

NPO plays also the role of the highest governing body of the Dutch public media system. Its Supervisory Board, the top governing body in the NPO, has its chair appointed by the education minister. The other members of the board are appointed by the same minister and member broadcast associations in such a way to effectively prevent political interference.Each member organization in the NPO has its own governing structures, which adds another buffer against potential political interference. The roles and responsibilities of these broadcasters are also legally defined. They have total freedom in creating their own programmes. NPO acts as a programming coordinator for all channels, providing various services to all of them including subtitling, managing rights contracts or purchasing international programmes.

Source of funding and budget

NPO is funded through a combination of state subsidy and commercial revenues. In 2022, the total budget of the Dutch public service system received a state subsidy of €893m (the largest part coming from the Ministry of Education, Culture and Science), according to data from the NPO annual report on 2022. The company also generates funding from sponsorship and sale of audiovisual content, mostly movies, to streaming companies such as Netflix and Videoland. The broadcaster established the company Dutch CORE in 2017 to manage this business. So far, the revenue generated from content sales only covers the costs of running the new entity (Dutch CORE).

Editorial independence

By law (Dutch Media Act of 2008), the NPO is tasked to provide objective coverage. The law also guarantees its editorial independence from the government, stipulating that NPO’s remit should be focused on producing programming of a public service nature, including impartial news coverage of parliamentary debates.

The main regulatory authority for the media in the Netherlands, an independent body known as Commissariaat voor de Media (CvdM), works on ensuring, among other things, that the government can’t influence the media (including commercial and public media).

On top of that, the Dutch Media Act comprises provisions that ensure the editorial freedom of the NPO.

NPO also has a Code of Conduct for Good Governance and Integrity of Public Broadcasting, which was drafted by the NPO Board of Directors in consultation with the NPO’s members. The Code puts forward a set of rules about the broadcaster’s operation that directly or indirectly bolster the station’s editorial independence.

NPO has an independent body, the Public Broadcasting Integrity Committee (CIPO), which provides advice about the application of the good governance code, when requested but also at its own initiative, to the NPO broadcasters and the group’s Board of Directors.

On top of that, NPO has an Ombudsman, whose role, as an independent entity, is to assess and oversee the station’s editorial coverage.

September 2023