News item | 17-02-2023 | 08:30
The national auction of nine licenses for national commercial radio stations will start this spring. From the beginning of March to the beginning of April 2023, it is possible for interested parties from the Netherlands and abroad to submit an application for participation. The auction itself is scheduled for mid-July. In August 2023, Minister Micky Adriaansens (Economic Affairs and Climate) will announce who has obtained the permits, after the parties have paid their winning bid(s). The Minister of EZK sent the final auction regulations to the House of Representatives today.
These regulations include the auction model, the reserve price or the minimum yield of the auction (a total of 73.7 million euros) and the conditions. Two of these nine national licenses will soon be intended for a commercial news channel and for a channel that mainly plays Dutch-language music. A legal entity can acquire a maximum of three through the auction. The licenses, whereby analogue radio (FM) is linked to digital radio (DAB+), are for a period of twelve years (2023-2035). The mandatory phasing out of analogue radio (FM) can therefore only take place after 2035.
Minister Micky Adriaansens (EZK): “In 2003, the licenses for national commercial radio stations were auctioned for the last time. Digital radio, streaming services, podcasts and social media have changed the way we listen in twenty years
to music, entertainment or news has changed significantly. By auctioning this summer, we will once again have a future-proof radio market in which newcomers will also have a chance. We deliberately auction for a period of twelve years, because that offers certainty to parties that have one or more winning bids.”
License specifically for news and one for Dutch music
The current nine national commercial channels are 100% NL, BNR, Qmusic, Radio 10, Radio 538, Radio Veronica, Sky Radio, Slam! and Sublime. In the previous distribution of the licenses in 2003, five of the nine licenses had specific requirements (clauses) attached to music genre or theme.
The minister has now determined, in agreement with State Secretary Gunay Uslu (OCW), to reduce this to two specific licenses at the upcoming auction: one for Dutch-language music and one for news & current affairs. That is sufficient, because new channels such as DAB+, internet radio and streaming services now provide a varied range for a broad Dutch media landscape.
A commercial radio station with Dutch-language music has a cultural value for society and promotes the production and distribution of home-grown music. In addition to providing public news – via the NPO – a commercial channel with news and current affairs contributes to development, opinion formation and representation of society. Producing news (programs) entails high costs, which means that it is plausible that no commercial news channel will be established without clauses.