Entertainment based public broadcasters Tros and Avro are to merge, the two television and radio companies confirmed on Friday after months of talks.

The government wants to cut €200m from spending on public broadcasting and mergers are seen as one option to increase efficiency. Last year, the educational broadcasters NPS, Teleac and RVU merged to form NTR.
The Dutch Publieke Omroep (OP), or public broadcasting system, is funded partly by advertising and partly by the treasury.
The numerous public broadcasting companies provide programming for three national television and five radio stations as well as digital channels. The broadcasters all have a specific religious, political or social slant and their airtime is allocated according to how many members they have.
The Algemene Vereniging Radio Omroep is the Netherlands’ oldest broadcasting company set up in 1927. The Televisie & Radio Omroep Stichting was founded in 1964.