The next Dutch government plans to overhaul the current public broadcasting system to create four umbrella broadcasters, replacing the current 11 separate broadcasting companies in 2027.

The shake-up is necessary to cut overheads, given the need to slash spending, officials say. The outgoing administration planned to cut €160 million from the public broadcasters’ budget, but it is not yet clear if the new coalition will press ahead with the spending cuts.

The three parties in talks on forming a minority coalition can count on the support of the GroenLinks-PvdA alliance, allowing consolidation plan to pass through parliament. But the left wing group has said it wants to reduce the scope of the cuts.

Over the past few months, public broadcasters have been going public with lists of programmes that will be dropped because of the spending squeeze. They include the consumer affairs programme Kassa and football show Studio Voetbal, which has been a fixture for 25 years.

But the plans have irritated MPs and the public alike, with calls for a rethink on the type of programming being cut. In particular, they say, public interest programmes should not be hit.

The Dutch public broadcasting system, NPO, is funded partly by advertising and partly by the treasury. The amount of airtime each organisation receives depends on how many members it can attract.

There are currently 11 public broadcasting organisations under the NPO umbrella: AVROTROS, BNNVARA, EO, HUMAN, KRO-NCRV, MAX, ON!, PowNed, VPRO, WNL and ZWART. In addition, the news broadcaster NOS and several specialist and regional broadcasters contribute to the programming.

Together, they provide content for three national television channels, five radio stations and several digital platforms. Each broadcaster has a particular religious, political or social focus.

For example, ON!, which joined the public broadcasting system in 2021, is supported by the far-right PVV and FvD parties.