Dutch television turns 75 as survey reveals viewers’ most unforgettable moments
Today is the 75th anniversary of the first official nationwide television broadcast in the Netherlands. The first official broadcast took place on Tuesday, October 2, 1951, at 8:15 p.m. from Studio Irene in Bussum.
Announcer Jeanne Roos welcomed viewers on behalf of the Nederlandse Televisie Stichting (NTS). At the time, there were only about 500 television sets in the Netherlands, and the broadcasters initially had a combined three hours of airtime per week. The first evening included speeches by State Secretary Joseph Cals and KRO chairman J.B. Kors, followed by the television play De Toverspiegel. No television footage of that first broadcast survives, although photographs and audio recordings do.
At the Mediamuseum in Hilversum, Beeld & Geluid have installed “beleef 75 jaar TV” consisting of 75 working television sets, one for every television year from 1951 through 2025/26. Visitors walk past the sets and see footage from the corresponding year.
The installation includes footage of major events and programmes, including the 1953 North Sea flood, the 1969 moon landing, the Netherlands 1988 European Championship victory, Big Brother, and Maxima’s tear during the 2002 royal wedding.
The exhibition is currently running and is scheduled to remain open through December 31, 2026, from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. It is at Beeld & Geluid, Media Parkboulevard 1 in Hilversum, and is included with a museum ticket. “This special installation brings shared memories back to life, showing how television has informed, entertained and brought generations of Dutch people together,” according to the museum.
To commemorate the milestone, Hart van Nederland published a survey of over 9,000 people who were asked about the television programmes and moments they remember most.
Respondents were asked about their top 10 most unforgettable TV moments. In first place came the moment the second plane hit the World Trade Center during live coverage of the September 11 attacks in New York. Second was the television coverage of the Enschede fireworks disaster, and third was the arrival of the first MH17 victims in Eindhoven and the subsequent procession of hearses.
Most of the top 10 moments were Dutch events, including news coverage of the assassination of Pim Fortuyn, the 1992 coverage of the Bijlmer disaster and images of the burning apartment blocks, the attack in Apeldoorn in which a car drove into the crowd during Queen's Day in 2009, and Maxima’s tear during Adiós Nonino at her wedding to Willem-Alexander.
One sporting event made the top 10: Max Verstappen passing Lewis Hamilton on the final lap to become Formula 1 world champion for the first time in 2021. The oldest entry into the top 10 came in 1962, with Mies Bouwman's Open het Dorp fundraising marathon.
The most popular TV show was the Andre van Duin Show and Comedy Parade. Baantjer came second, with De Luizenmoeder finishing third. The most recent show to make the top 10 most popular shows was The Masked Singer.
The panel was also asked whether television will still have an important role when it reaches its 100th anniversary in 2051. 54% said television will still play an important role, 41% said it will not, while 5% didn't know.
AVROTROS is also marking the anniversary with a programme simply called “75 jaar TV”, airing tonight at 11:20 p.m. on NPO 1. Cornald Maas speaks with three people who are themselves exactly 75 years old: journalist Cees Grimbergen, actor/theatre-maker Jetty Mathurin and presenter Henny Huisman. The programme looks back through archive footage and asks why television continues to have value.