Even during the night I have been looking for a radio that… talks. There is no shortage of non-stop music, but a voice that keeps you company (and at the same time provides a chunk of information) is rare. Especially if you are looking for one who speaks Dutch. Often you end up at NPO Radio 1. But even that could come to an end. The live programs are under pressure.
According to Powned radio boss Florent Luyckx in an interview with Villamedia. “With commercial parties it has almost, or already completely disappeared.” He expects live night radio on public radio to face the same fate. According to Talpa radio boss Paul Römer, the fact that there are no (anymore) advertisers at night also plays a role.
Currently, the public stations NPO Radio 1, 2 and 3FM are mainly made live during the night. At the weekend, some of them can already be heard on NPO Radio 2 and NPO Radio 1 also regularly shows repetitions or programs that are indebted to podcasts. “In corona, especially at Radio 1, a lot of money has been spent”, says Luyckx. “Sick editors who had to be replaced, guests who had to be interviewed on location: it all costs money.”
And that is why the public broadcaster is also cutting back on night radio, among other things. At the end of last year, ‘Zwarte Prietpraat’ by Prem Radhakishun was killed on NPO Radio 1. “The cancellation of the program is due to budget cuts”, says Luyckx.
Commercial
For most commercial stations, live night radio has been a thing of the past for years. Radio 538 was the last to have full night programming presented live. But due to the corona cuts, this came to an end in 2020. “At 538 we are live until 2am and then again from 4am”, says Römer on NPO Radio 1. “At Veronica we start at 5 o’clock.” On Veronica you can also hear ‘Nachtclub Veronica’ with Ronald Giphart between midnight and 2 am.
Flying hours young talent
There has, however, been a shift. Where 538 used to have well-known deejays such as Rick van Velthuysen and Eddy Keur in the night, these are now young talents such as Dylan Boet and Julia van Reyendam. “The night hours are ideal for young talent to learn the trade and make progress”, said Romer. He considers the chance that big names will be heard in the night again in the future small. “The numbers of people working at night are too small for large advertisers to be of interest.” For really expensive live night radio, he sees more of a function for the public broadcaster.
Abroad
The Netherlands is not the only country where nighttime radio is under pressure. The same image can be seen at the neighbors. In Flanders, the public VRT channels are largely filled at night with non-stop music and news every hour. Unlike in the Netherlands, Qmusic does have programs presented there at night during the week.
In Germany, programs presented live all night can be heard on public stations at night. However, these are broadcasts that are made under the banner of the ARD (Popnacht, Hitnacht) and are broadcast by almost all regional public broadcasters. The commercial broadcasters mainly fill the night with non-stop music. (RadioWereld.nl)
