Radio Netherlands

nl:Wereldomroep Radio Netherlands (RNW, short for Radio Nederland Wereldomroep in Dutch) is a public radio and television network based in Hilversum, producing and transmitting programmes for international audiences outside the Netherlands. Despite its name, the broadcaster has also exploited web and e-mail technology from as early as 1992.

The Netherlands claims to have started the international broadcasting business, with regular transmissions starting in 1927 from the Philips shortwave stations PHOHI(in Dutch to the Dutch East Indies - now Indonesia) and PCJJ. The international programme on Sundays commenced in 1928 with host Eddy Startz. He spoke several languages, including English, German and Spanish and re-christened the station PCJ (dropping the second J) to stand for Peace Cheer and Joy. Broadcasts were considerably strengthened in 1937 with the construction of the world's first wooden rotating antenna mast at the transmitter site in Huizen.

Broadcasts from the Netherlands were interrupted by the Nazi invasion in May 1940. The transmitters in Huizen were used for pro-Nazi broadcasts, some originating from Germany, others concerts from Dutch broadcasters under German control.

The Dutch government in exile was granted air-time on BBC transmitters in 1941. The programme "Radio Oranje" was a daily commentary on the Dutch situation both in the Netherlands and the rest of the empire (Dutch East and West Indies). One of the chief commentators on Radio Oranje, Henk van den Broek, was given the task of re-starting public broadcasting once Holland was liberated. He began Radio Herrijzend Nederland in 1946 (from Eindhoven), later moving the studios to Hilversum later the same year. The plan was to re-start broadcasting along the lines of the BBC. Whilst this succeeded for the new external service, Radio Nederland Wereldomroep, political pressure lead to the re-establishment of the complicated system of broadcasting societies sharing airtime on domestic networks.

Radio Netherlands has always been editorially independent from the Dutch government, being funded as around 6% of the public allocation for public broadcasting. Despite severe budget cutbacks in 2004, the station has maintained its standing as one of the more creative production houses in Europe. It also supports the development of new technology, such as webcasting, podcasting and digital shortwave, which may ultimately replace analogue shortwave in many regions of the world.

The shortwave international broadcasts are heard world-wide via broadcast facilities in Flevoland, Bonaire and Madagascar. In the last decade, the shortwave broadcasts have been supplemented by an extensive network of partner stations. In 2005, this was approximately 5500 partners, of which half are partners that use the station's music output (classical, jazz and world music).

There is speech programing on short-wave and satellite in the Dutch, English, Spanish, Indonesian and Papiamento languages. Additionally, there are programme productions and websites in French, Arabic and Mandarin. Certain programmes are heard on local/national networks, such as CBC Radio, ABC Newsradio and SAfm.

Radio Netherlands has a weekly reach through all its language services, and music programmes, of around 50 million listeners a week.

Selected Programmes on the English Service

Happy Station was long-running popular radio show, originating on the network's predecessors in 1928 and continued until 1995. Popular music from Europe and various other countries was mixed with vintage recordings and multilingual chatter, switching back and forth between English, Spanish and Dutch, by hosts including long serving Eddie Startz and Tom Meijer each Sunday. It became popular since it gave listeners a chance to travel in their armchair during a period when international travel was impossible for most people. It also pioneered call-in shows, in both the English and Spanish versions, during the latter part of the 1970's.

Media Network/DX Juke Box. The media show on Radio Netherlands ran on the English service from its inception in 1961 with Derek Jordan and Jim Vastenhoud, through to May 7th 1981 when the name and format was changed to Media Network. The music was originally designed to attract younger listeners to technical features, with a lot of emphasis in the early days on DX tips and technical articles. There were also DX Courses on basic electronics and propagation during the 1960's and 1970's. When host Jonathan Marks took over in August 1980, he re-launched the show by adding news/topical features and eliminating the music. Media Network ran successfully for more than 1000 editions, before it migrated to a fulltime website/weblog in October 2000.

External link

• Radio Nederland Wereldomroep (http://www2.rnw.nl/rnw/en/) English site
• Radio Nederland Wereldomroep (http://www2.rnw.nl/rnw/nl/) Nederlandse site
• Radio Nederland Wereldomroep (http://www2.rnw.nl/rnw/es/) Spanish site
• Radio Nederland Wereldomroep (http://www2.rnw.nl/rnw/pt/) Portugese site
• Radio Nederland Wereldomroep (http://www2.rnw.nl/rnw/id/) Bahasa Indonesian site
• Radio Nederland Wereldomroep (http://www.aljesr.nl/index.jsp) Arabic site
• Radio Nederland Wereldomroep (http://www.rnw.nl/afri/index.html) French (African) site