VRT 1

VRT 1 logo (May 1 2023 -)

## Availability

### Terrestial

TV Vlaanderen Antenne - Channel 1, Mux 2 (SD)Digitenne (Netherlands) - Channel 14 (HD)

### Streaming live

VRT MAX

**VRT 1** (until 2023: **Eén**; English: "one") is a public Dutch-language TV station in Belgium, owned by the VRT. Its sister channels are Canvas and Ketnet.

## Channel description

VRT 1 is the Flemish public broadcaster VRT’s largest television channel and the most popular in Flanders. It is geared towards all Flemings, from young to old, in all their uniqueness and diversity. VRT 1 feels and nurtures the heartbeat of Flemish society by approaching media users from a position of proximity and involvement. It aims to inform, inspire, and unite its audience. It ensures that people understand each other in a world of fragmentation. It offers news and interpretation, human interest programs, Flemish fiction, entertainment with added public value, and sports.

VRT 1 brings people together with compelling stories and relaxing content. The brand senses what is going on and what really concerns people. The public environment is the source of inspiration for everything that VRT 1 broadcasts. Consequently, the brand appeals to a wide audience every day and is relevant for both young and old.

VRT 1 stands for top quality entertainment and great local stories. Every day, the brand tries to be in tune with what is going on. What are people doing, and which things really matter? Because the programs are closely linked to the viewers' living environment and provide a lot of food for discussion. Viewers can identify with the content and feel at home.

As a result, VRT 1 appeals to a wide audience. Indeed, good quality programmes with more than a million viewers are no exception. [...] VRT 1 creates a familiar environment in which viewers are challenged to open themselves to new perspectives, and it does not hesitate to deal with difficult themes. The combination of recognizable stories and stimulating innovation makes VRT 1 a relevant brand, with a mixture of familiar and surprising content.

## Channel history

### NIR

"*Goede avond dames en heren, hier is voor de eerste maal de experimentele televisie van het N.I.R.* "
―**Bert Leysen announcing the start of Flemish television**
VRT 1 is the first and therefore oldest Dutch-speaking television channel in Belgium. October 31, 1953, was the first day of Flemish television under the banner of the NIR (Nationaal Instituut voor de Radio-omroep). Bert Leysen was the person who announced the start of NIR TV. Irene Beval was the broadcaster on duty that night. After a conversation with a scuptor from Schoten, Beval introduced Panorama, an overview of the current affairs of the past week. On that very day, it was the first Flemish television news program, "Televisie Niuews". Later, a TV adaptation of "Drie dozijn rode rozen" starring Paula Semer was played. The broadcast was concluded with a late news bulletin. A few hundred viewers were able to turn it on that night.

After a test broadcast in 1953 with the coronation of Queen Elisabeth II, a flower parade was broadcast on June 6, 1954, via the Eurovision network. Also, in the same year, for the first time, Belgian viewers could also support their national football team via television as the World Cup was broadcast.

### BRT

NIR becomes BRT In 1960, Paul Vandenbussche was director general of the broadcaster. In his opening speech, Vandenbussche stated that "Television has now passed the experimental stage.". In 1960 Sportweeken started on the public broadcaster.

In 1963, Flemish television existed for 10 years. In that time, television has grown from a scarce curiosity into an everyday phenomenon. The milestone of 1 million sets is passed in that year, and the decade of television is celebrated with a report on the BRT. BRT broadcasted many major events, such as the assassination of John F. Kennedy and the Moon Landing. Many new series programs were produced by the broadcaster at that time, like Echo, Het manneke, *De tijdscapsule, Jonger dan je denkt, Nu* and *Kapitein Zeppos.*

The BRT also broadcast a number of programs in color for the first time, more specifically on January 1, 1971. During the first few months, its own color production was limited to filmed programs finished in private laboratories. The average broadcasting time in 1971 was about 46 hours a week, 32% of which were in color. That same year, the BRT was confronted with a new challenge for the first time: cable television. This means greater competition for Flemish television, especially from the Dutch channels. The number of cable viewers was still small in 1971 (120170), but would rise sharply in the coming years.

After initial success with the Flemish viewing public in the 1960s, the station's popularity began to decline in the 1970s: viewers discovered the popular entertainment programs on the Dutch television networks.

In 1973 television celebrated its 20th anniversary. There was a high audience share and high appreciation for game and show programs such as *The Wheel of Fortune,* but also *The Wies Andersen Show*, *Micro Macro,* and *Mezza Musica*.

### BRT 1/BRTN TV1

In 1977, BRT started a second television network. On April 26, 1977, it was broadcast over two networks for the first time, making the first channel to be TV1.

In 1989, the commercial broadcaster VTM saw the light of day on February 1, 1989, which is a blow to BRT. A year later, the names changed from BRT 1 and 2 to TV1 and TV2. In the early 1990s, the Flemish Council formulated a new broadcasting decree, in which it was decided, among other things, that the broadcaster would henceforth be known as BRTN, with budget cuts also made, resulted in the channel being called BRTN TV1.

It's this era that the channel has some spot-on series and programs, such as the comedic series *FC De Kampioenen* and the game show *Blokken*, becoming fixtures on Flemish television for more than two decades. In 1995, the public broadcaster has its first home-grown soap opera *Thuis* in TV1, which helped BRTN regain its market share and the series continue for many years to come to this day.

### VRT TV1

In 1998, The new decree gives the public broadcaster the status of a public limited company. The public broadcaster will be named VRT, which stands for Flemish Radio and Television Broadcasting (Vlaamse Radio- en Televisieomroep).

### Eén

In 2005, Aimé Van Hecke, former television director of the VRT, was able to present the result of the thorough overhaul of the VRT networks. On January 21, 2005, TV1 became Eén (One), with the new slogan *Ieder zijn Eén*. At half past one on January 21, 2005, TV1 changes to One. The channel is cast in a surprising form that emphasizes the core values ​​of dynamism, diversity and social cohesion. A new name naturally also includes a new logo consisting of overlapping circles.

On August 31, 2015, the channel style was renewed under the motto *Bij Eén zit je goed*. Also in 2015, as one of the last broadcasters in Europe, the channel ditched announcers during continuity.

On Wednesday, December 23, 2015, it was exactly 20 years ago that the very first episode of Thuis came on screen. As of now the series reach esabout 1.2 million viewers every day.

On August 13, 2019, a new logo was proposed that has been in use since September 2, 2019.

Since March 15, 2022, Eén no longer has its own website. Visitors are automatically redirected to the VRT MAX website .

### VRT 1

On May 1, 2023, the name of the channel was changed to VRT 1, and the logo was also renewed. The slogan is *VRT 1 is van iedereen*.

## Services

### Reception

VRT 1 is a mandatory channel for all Belgian and Dutch cable networks. VRT 1 can also be viewed in Flanders via DVB-T in the package of TV Vlaanderens Antenna TV  and in the Netherlands in the package of KPN's Digitenne. Previously in Belgium it was included in the package of Telenet's discontinued Teletenne and could be received free of charge via DVB-T until December 1, 2018 .  From November 2005 to May 26, 2015, the channel was viewable via satellite position Astra 19.2°E . VRT 1 HD can be viewed via satellite position Astra 23.5°E . You can take out a subscription for this in the Netherlands at CanalDigitaal , and in Belgium via TV Vlaanderen . The HD channel is included in most digital packages, with the exception of DVB-T.

### VRT 1 HD

In the spring of 2009, the VRT started its full HD broadcasts. In the summer of 2008 there were tests with the Tour de France and the Olympic Games. In 2009, four fiction series were broadcast in HD. This range has expanded considerably over time. In mid-August 2013, One switched to a higher HD quality: from 720p to 1080i.

### VRT 1 +

From May 22, 2008, the digital channel Eén+ provided a television offering that was complementary to its parent channel One. Eén+ and Canvas+ closed in May 1, 2012 because of Op 12's launch. After the discontinuation of OP12, Eén + returned to the third VRT channel in 2015 with programs provided with audio description.

### Teletext and live subtitle

VRT offered a teletext service as of 8 May 1980 which was stopped on 1 June 2016. The page 888 is still available for subtitles. The service was used by 576,094 persons per day in 2010. The number dropped down to 123,709 in 2014.

### Announcers

Until July 16, 2015, With its sister channel Ketnet, Eén was one of 21 stations in Europe to utilise in-vision continuity presentation. Four regular staff announcers (as of January 2014) were presenting in-vision and out-of-vision links from lunchtime until around midnight or in the early hours (if necessary) each day. The last were:

* Andrea Croonenberghs
* Eva Daleman
* Genea Lisa
* Sarah Vandendriessche

At the very last day, Andrea, Saartje, Eva and Geena Lisa presented for the last time. What was special was that all four of them presented separately, and then also together for the last broadcaster: a first that ensured a beautiful and memorable farewell.

## Programs

### Current

* Dagelijkse kost (2010 - now) - daily cooking show
* Blokken (1994 - now) - gameshow
* Iedereen beroemd (2014 - now) - reports
* Thuis (1995 - now) - soap opera
* Dwars door... - human interest show
* De Campus Cup (2019 - now) - gameshow
* Ons huis/Nieuw huis (2023 - now) - real estate program
* Kim Clijsters: come back home (2023 - now) - documentaries
* First dates (2020 - now)
* Spoed 24/7 (2016 - now) - documentaries series

### VRT NWS

Here are some programs by the news service on VRT 1 of VRT NWS.

* *Journaal* - the main news bulletin of VRT, broadcasted at 13h (1 p.m.) and 19h (7 p.m.) everyday. The laat (late) edition is broadcasted around 22h (10 p.m.) to 23h (11 p.m.) everyday. Presented by Wim De Vilder, Annelies Van Herck, Goedele Wachters, Hanne Decoutere, Fatma Taspinar, Xavier Taveirne and Riadh Bahri.
* *Update* - 18h (6 p.m.) every Sunday. During special events (such as elections, funerals of important people, natural disasters and attacks) an extra newscast is broadcast.
* *Het weer* - Weather, daily at around 13:30, 18:10 and 20:05, presented by Sabine Hagedoren , Jacotte Brokken and Bram Verbruggen.
* *De Markt* (2007 - now) - Economic news every Saturday.
* *Villa Politica* (2004 - now) - Politics current affair show.
* *De zevende dag* (1988 - now) - Current affair show from 11 to 13h every Sunday, presented by Lieven Verstraete and Lisbeth Imbo.
* *Pano* (2016 - now) - Documentaries series.

### Sporza

Sporza broadcast live sport events like Formula 1, Cycling races, and Football.

* Sportweekend (1960 - now) - Sport news, every Sunday.

### International

* Murdoch Mysteries - Canadian crime series produced by CBC
* Midsomer Murders - English crime series produced by ITV
* Escape to the Chateau (2016 - 2022) - English reality series produced by Channel 4
* A million little things (2018 - 2023) - American series produced by ABC
* Lewis (2006 - 2009) - English detective series produced by ITV

### Former

* Flikken (1999 - 2009) - Police series, produced with TROS (Netherlands)
* Politie 24/7 (2018 - 2022) - Police documentaries
* De Columbus (2018 - 2021)
* Dieren in nesten (2001 - 2015)

## References

1. ↑  VRT International https://www.vrtinternational.com/about/content/een

.