Sunday, March 20, 2011

Dutch commercial radio licences extended to 2017

Dutch Minister of Economic Affairs Maxime Verhagen has, as expected, extended the licences of the radio stations on FM and mediumwave to 2017. The licences were due to expire in September 2011. However, the minister has stipulated a condition that the commercial stations invest substantially in digital radio.

The major stations will pay a lower annual amount for their licences than hitherto. The thinking behind this is that the stations can use the money saved to invest in digital radio. Some stations including BNR Nieuwsradio, Slam FM, and 100% NL, which already pay relatively small amounts for their licences, will not have to pay anything at all for the period 2011-2017. This also applies to the regional commercial radio stations.

The two vacant FM packages previously used by Arrow Classic Rock and Arrow Jazz FM will be re-advertised for the period 2011-2017.

(Source: Multiple media reports via Media Network Weblog)

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