Broadcasting companies reacted with fury over the weekend to the public broadcasting reforms announced last Friday evening by the minority government of Liberal VVD and Christian Democrats.

Two of the companies, VARA and BNN, immediately halted their merger talks saying the plans provide no incentive to merge. Cabinet plans say a merged company will receive just one budget between them rather than each keeping their existing budget. They are also likely to lose out on the number of hours they can broadcast each day.
Two other companies with merger plans, Tros and Avro, have also put talks on hold, according to press reports.
The government wants broadcasting companies to merge to bring the total down from 21 to 8 by 2016. It is also looking for budget cuts of €200m by 2015.
The broadcasting companies are also cross that the cost of membership will treble to €15 a year. The number of members each company has is set to be used as the measurement for how much broadcasting time each company is allocated.
Regional
Regional broadcasters, however, reacted positively. Cabinet plans mean regional and national broadcasters will merge. ‘Hopefully this will strengthen the function of regional broadcasters,’ Gerard Schuiteman, director of the umbrella organisation for the 16 regional broadcasting companies, told Parool.
The World Service is set to be hardest hit. It is to be hived off to the foreign ministry and will have its budget cut. By how much has not yet been announced, but media analysts expect its current &euro40m budget to drop to €10m.
Marja van Bijsterveldt, the minister responsible for media, told the press the plans will modernise broadcasting and make it more efficient while retaining its high quality.
Parliament will debate the plans on June 27.