Dutch commercial broadcasters RTL Nederland and Talpa Network plan to merge, if the European Commission and Dutch consumers’ authority ACM give their permission.

The two companies hope to complete their merger in the first half of next year. RTL Nederland will have 70% of the shares in the new company, Talpa – and owner John de Mol – the rest.

All the channels currently operated by the two broadcasters will remain, for the time being at least.

The primary aim of the merger is to fight off foreign competition. ‘American and Chinese companies are taking over the market,’ De Mol said. ‘If we want to keep having Dutch content, then this is the way to do it.’

RTL Nederland’s brands include RTL 4, RTL5, RTL7, RTL8 and RTLz and streaming service Videoland. Talpa’s channels include SBS6, Veronica, Net5, radio 538 and Sky Radio.

If the merger is approved, it would mean all the Dutch language commercial broadcasters, with the exception of the ESPN sports channel, are in the hands of one company.