E.J. Dommering

The Dutch System of Financing of Public Broadcasting

In most European countries broadcasting was institutionalized in the 1920s by means of public service organizations, more or less independent of the state. This institutionalisation process placed broadcasting, compared to the United States, in a political, non-commercial environment. In the Netherlands, the institutionalisation process took a different turn. The Netherlands were an ideologically divided country (the so-called ‘pillars’) which caused the formation of different broadcasting associations based on religious and political convictions: a catholic, several protestant, a liberal and a socialist organization thus came into existence. This division corresponded to the political representations in parliament. As a matter of fact, the political parties had much influence with their counterparts in broadcasting: the main revenues of these organizations were contributions by members.