Television in the Netherlands was officially introduced in 1951. In the Netherlands, the television market is divided between a number of commercial networks, such as RTL Nederland, and a system of public broadcasters sharing three channels, NPO 1, NPO 2, and NPO 3. Imported programmes, as well as news interviews with responses in a foreign language, are almost always shown in their original language, with subtitles.
Comedy Central Extra is a European pay television channel that launched in the United Kingdom and Ireland in 2003, then followed by the Netherlands in 2011 where it was available until 31 December 2022. Between 2012 and 2020 it was also available in parts of Eastern Europe and the Balkans.
The BBC is forbidden under its charter to directly undertake any commercial operations on-air within the United Kingdom; however, no such restriction applies to operations in other countries. Therefore, the BBC exploits its massive television archive by operating a number of commercial television channels outside the UK through its BBC Studios subsidiary.
Groupe Canal+ is a French mass media company. It is owned and controlled by Vivendi and has a film library in excess of 5,000 films. Vivendi has sold some parts of Canal+ to private investors which are still using the name of Canal+. It is headquartered in Issy-les-Moulineaux, in the suburbs of Paris.
BBC Entertainment is an international television channel broadcasting comedy, drama, light entertainment, reality and children's programming from the BBC, Channel 4 and other UK production houses. The channel broadcasts regional versions to suit local demands and replaced BBC Prime. It is wholly owned by BBC Studios.
The Dutch version of Nickelodeon, broadcasting free-to-cable in the Netherlands and through satellite in Belgium, and launched on 14 July 2003. In addition to the general Nickelodeon programmes, original productions such as ZOOP, Het Huis Anubis, and SuperNick are also broadcast. The Dutch Kids' Choice Awards were presented in three years, featuring nominees that are relevant to Dutch audiences. In 2010, the US Kids' Choice Awards aired, which included categories for the Netherlands and Belgium inserted into the broadcast.
The Netherlands now has three major forms of broadcast digital television. Terrestrial (DVB-T), Cable (DVB-C), and Satellite (DVB-S). In addition IPTV services are available. At the end of the first quarter of 2013 almost 84% of the households in the Netherlands had some form of digital television.
OutTV is a Netherlands-based television channel which can be viewed via cable television/digital television as a premium channel in the Netherlands, Belgium, Sweden, Israel and Spain. OutTV was launched on 2 April 2008 by OUTtv Media B.V. and has been available on cable since 11 April 2008.
Film1 is a Dutch premium television and video on demand service that replaced Canal+ and is owned by SPI International.
Discovery World is a former European pay television channel which featured programming in the fields of travel, culture and history. It used to be a pan-European television channel. Discovery World offered a mix of history, culture, real-life stories, investigation, mystery shows, factual series and documentaries. At time of closure its programming was mainly in English and subtitled in Dutch.
MTV Nederland and België is a Dutch speaking free-to-cable television channel broadcasting in the Netherlands. It launched as MTV NL on 12 September 2000. Before the start of country-specific channels, the Pan-European version of MTV aired in the Netherlands.
Comedy Central Family was a television channel broadcasting comedy TV series. It launched in the Netherlands as a joint venture between Viacom International Media Networks and Endemol. It featured both foreign acquisitions and Dutch series from the Endemol libraries.
Disney Channel is the Dutch edition based on the American channel of the same name, owned by the Walt Disney Company. The channel is broadcasting free-to-cable, and all content is dubbed in Dutch. The channel features a mix of original sitcoms, teen drama series, animation movies and original movies. English audio is also available on the operators Ziggo, Canal Digitaal, TV Vlaanderen, Caiway, Proximus and Telenet. There are two different versions with local advertisements. While currently not using a slogan, the tagline 'Dat moet je meemaken!' has been used in the past.
Investigation Discovery is a pay television channel available in several European nations. It competes in the same genre as Crime & Investigation Network which is also available in several European nations. The ID channel features crime programming, including "missing persons and murder inquiries, cold cases and historical crime," as well as documentaries on forensic investigations. One such program is Deadly Women, an investigative series in which former FBI agent and profiler Candice DeLong looks at female killers throughout history.
Cartoon Network is a Dutch television channel which primarily airs animated programming in the Netherlands and Belgium. This version is available in the Dutch and English languages. Some providers offer the Dutch language only.
MTV Brand New was a 24-hour specialist music channel featuring new music videos, alternative and indie music available in the Netherlands. An Italian version of the channel launched on September 14, 2003. It also launched in Germany in 2011.
HBO Nederland was a Dutch premium television network, owned by a joint venture between HBO and the largest cable television operator in the Netherlands, Ziggo. It launched on 9 February 2012. HBO Nederland offered three television channels, available in HD and SD, video-on-demand services and HBO GO. The programming consisted of HBO's own productions, TV series, documentaries and films from Warner Bros.
BBC First is an entertainment subscription television channel featuring comedy, crime, drama and film programming, originating from UK and mostly from the BBC. The channel is wholly owned and operated by BBC Studios. The channel began rolling out internationally in 2014, launching first in Australia. It is supported by extended localised advertising breaks.
ONS is a Dutch commercial television channel owned by Bureauvijftig, which is dedicated to viewers aged 50 years or older. ONS's main target is the older audience. ONS airs footage from the forties to the eighties. Each month a specific theme is on the channel. Topics such as the Dutch East Indies, Netherlands Waterland, railroads, mills, work, food and household are broadcast. The channel launched as NostalgieNet on 1 January 2006 and changed its name into ONS on 13 September 2015. On 1 January 2020, Bureauvijftig took over ONS from Just Media Group. ONS is available in HD through Ziggo since 10 February 2022.
Paramount Network is a Dutch free-to-cable television channel in the Netherlands, based on the American rebranded Paramount Network. The television channels launched as Spike on 1 October 2015. It was the third Spike channel next to the US and UK version of the channel. The television channel aimed at an audience of mainly men. Initially it only broadcast daily between 21:00 and 2:30, time-sharing with Nickelodeon. As of 12 December 2016 the channel is broadcasting 24 hours a day in the Netherlands. Until 6 January 2021, the channel was also available in Flanders. On 24 May 2022, the channel was renamed by Paramount Network.
