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Themass media in Belgium is characterized by its diversity due to thelinguistic divide in the country.
Radio and television regulation are regional competencies.
In 1998, Belgium had 79FM radio stations, 7AM stations and 1SW station, serving 8.075 million radios owned in the country. Transmission is primary by terrestrial broadcast antenna. Analogue transmissions are provided by Norkring Belgium, Broadcast Partners, D'Hont Noël and TVVV Sound. Digital transmissions are provided by Norkring Belgium. Digital cable operators and internet providers also provide radio signals. Satellite transmission is provided by TV Vlaanderen.
Public radio in Belgium is controlled by theVRT for the Dutch-speaking region (Flanders andBrussels) theRTBF for the French-speaking region (Wallonia and Brussels) and theBRF for theGerman community in Belgium. Numerous private operators exist. The main competitor in the Flanders and Brussels regions isVMMa. The main competitor in the Wallonia and Brussels regions isRTL Group.
Next to these regional channels, local channels exists. E.g. Radio 2 Limburg and GO FM. In 2009 radio market share in the Dutch-speaking region was 63.08% for the VRT channels (Radio 1,Radio 2,MNM,Studio Brussel andKlara, 23.13% for the VMMa channels (Q-Music andJoe FM) and 2.65% for the Corelio/Concentra joint venture channel (Radio Nostalgie).
Radio advertising is managed in house in most cases. Two radio advertising agencies operate, Vlaamse Audiovisuele Regie and IP Plurimedia.
Transmission is primary by fiberoptic or coaxcable television network (DVB-C) or coppertelephone line (xDSL). Terrestrial transmission (DVB-T) also exists. In terms of television, there were 25 broadcast stations in 1997, and a further 10 repeaters. This digital terrestrial network is owned byNorking Belgium. Small operators of analog networks exist. Satellite transmission (DVB-S) in Flanders, Brussels and Wallonia is operated by Airfield Belgium or Digidream. MNO'sProximus andMobistar offer digital television over mobile phone (DVB-H). In 1997, 4.72 million televisions were owned nationwide.
Public television in Belgium is controlled by theVRT for the Dutch-speaking region (Flanders andBrussels) theRTBF for the French-speaking region (Wallonia and Brussels) and theBRF for theGerman community in Belgium. Numerous private operators exist. The main competitors in the Flanders and Brussels regions areVMMa andSBS Belgium. VMMa is a joint venture ofDe Persgroep and Roularta Media Group. The main competitors in the Wallonia and Brussels regions areRTL Group andAB Groupe.
Next to these regional channels, local channels exists. E.g. TV Oost and ROB TV. In Flanders, VRT channels (Eén,Canvas andKetnet/OP12) had a combined market share of 42.0% in 2012, VMMa channels (Vtm,2BE,Vitaya andvtmKzoom) 28.8%, SBS Belgium channels (VIER andVIJF) 10.5% andConcentra (Acht) 0.5%.
There are numerous public and private media companies that specialise as producer or distributor of channels, content and video services. E.g.Studio 100 andWoestijnvis.
There are numerous public and private media companies that specialise as producer or distributor of television production facilities. e.g. Videohouse.
Major newspapers and magazines in Belgium are printed monolingual either inDutch or in French. Bilingual publications are very minor. Belgium's majornews agency isBelga. Minor news agencies exist. Belgium's major photo agencies are Scripta, IP Plurimedia or Mediashake.
Major Dutch-language daily newspapers in 2008 wereHet Laatste Nieuws (De Persgroep) (30.96%),Het Nieuwsblad (Corelio) (27.04%),Gazet van Antwerpen (Concentra) (11.27%),Het Belang van Limburg (Concentra) (10.71%),De Standaard (Corelio) (9.95%),De Morgen (De Persgroep) (5.99%) andDe Tijd (Mediafin) (4.08%). Mediafin is a joint venture of De Persgroep and Groupe Rossel.
Major French-language daily newspapers in 2008 wereLa Dernière Heure (IPM) (16.1%),Le Soir (Groupe Rossel) (16.0%),L'Avenir (Corelio) (15.8%),La Libre Belgique (IPM) (8.3%),L'Echo (Mediafin) (3.7%) andLa Meuse (Groupe Rossel),La Capitale (Groupe Rossel),La Nouvelle Gazette (Groupe Rossel),La Province (Groupe Rossel) andNord éclair (Belgian edition ofNord éclair; Groupe Rossel) (22.0%).
The only major German-language daily newspaper in 2008 wasGrenz-Echo (Groupe Rossel).Metro (Concentra) is a major daily free newspaper in a Dutch and French edition.
The Brussels Times[1] is the leading daily online newspaper in English. They also publish an English language printed magazine.
Major Dutch-language weekly magazines in 2008 includedKerk en Leven (Drukkerij en Uitgeverij Halewijn) (409,817),Dag Allemaal (402,097),HUMO (227,614),Libelle (DPG Media) (216,506),TV-Blad (158,283),Story(Belgian magazine) (Sanoma Belgium) (159,833),Plus Magazine(Belgium) (134,242),TV-Familie/Blik (129,328),Flair (Sanoma Belgium) (126,831),Knack (DPG Media) (126,646),Trends(Roularta Media Group),'t Pallieterke.
Major French-language weekly magazines in 2008 wereTrends (Roularta Media Group),Le Vif/L’Express(Roularta Media Group),Télé Moustique (Sanoma Belgium),Femmes d'Aujourd'hui (DPG Media).
Numerous by-weekly and monthly magazines exist. E.g.Eos Magazine,P-Magazine, andZozoLala.
The Brussels Times magazine is published every two months for English speakers.
There are several major media companies in Belgium,active in numerous media and telecommunication sub-sectors.[2] These companies hold interests in Belgium, France, the Netherlands, Germany, Luxembourg, and the Republic of Ireland:
Intellectual property rights in Belgium are managed bySABAM.