Debate about public service broadcasting
This week the House will continue the debate about government proposals to restructure the Dutch system of public service broadcasting.
Wednesday June 19 the House started the debate about a proposal from the state secretary for Culture, Sander Dekker, to restructure the Dutch system of public service broadcasting. The debate will be continued in the evening of Tuesday June 25 . The Duch system is unique as well as complicated. The heart of the system is formed by membership-organizations. The larger the organization, the more hours broadcasting time it has on television and radio. The public service broadcasting system is financed by the government and by advertising.
Budget cuts At this time there 21 broadcasting organizations. State secretary Dekker wants to limit this to 8 organizations in 2016, mostly by mergers between the various participants. In this way he hopes to reduce the budget for public broadcasting with around € 200 million.