Television in The Netherlands - High-definition

High-definition

In the Netherlands customers can receive high-definition television channels by cable or satellite. There is no terrestrial HD service available nor planned. The first trials with high-definition television in the Netherlands began in 2006 with the broadcast of the 2006 World Cup in HD. After the trial the larger cable companies continued a HD service with a small number of channels as National Geographic Channel HD, Discovery HD Showcase, History HD, Film1 HD and Sport1 HD But because no Dutch network had made the move to HD, already broadcasted in widescreen and the quality of the standard-definition PAL signal was good enough for most people, demand was low.

Since the 2006 trials none of the main Dutch networks made the move to HD. This changed in the summer of 2008 when from June 1, 2008 until August 24, 2008 the Netherlands Public Broadcasting (NPO) organisations made their primary channel, Nederland 1 temporary available in HD. This made it possible to broadcast Euro 2008, the 2008 Tour de France, and the 2008 Summer Olympics in HD and additionally allowed them to test their systems before the scheduled launch of their permanent HD service in early 2009. The NPO planned to launch their permanent HD service with HD versions of their three channels Nederland 1, Nederland 2, and Nederland 3. Most of the programming in the early stages will consists of upscaled material from their parent channels as in time more programs will become available in HD. Technicolor Netherlands, the company responsible for the technical realisation of the broadcasts of the NPOs television and radio channels, began the summer 2008 test broadcast of Nederland 1 HD in 720p/50 as the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) recommends. During the test period an additional 1080i/25 version of the channel was made available to the cable companies because of quality complaints from viewers. No information has been made available what the format of the permanent HD service from the NPO will be.

The commercial broadcasting organization in the Netherlands the SBS Broadcasting Group (NET 5, SBS 6, Veronica) and the channels of RTL nederland are currently available in HD via cable and satellite.

This is a non comprehensive list of HD channels available in the Netherlands.

• Nederland 1 HD
• Nederland 2 HD
• Nederland 3 HD
• RTL4 HD
• RTL5 HD
• RTL7 HD
• RTL8 HD
• SBS6 HD
• NET5 HD
• Veronica HD
• Discovery Channel HD
• Animal Planet HD
• Eurosport HD
• Eurosport 2 HD
• Film1 Premiere HD
• Film1 Action HD
• Film1 Series HD
• HBO HD
• HBO 2 HD
• HBO 3 HD
• Shorts TV HD
• History HD
• National Geographic Channel HD
• Nat Geo Wild HD
• Sport1 Select HD
• Sport1 Voetbal HD
• Eredivisie Live 1 HD
• Eredivisie Live 2 HD
• Eredivisie Live 3 HD
• Eredivisie Live 4 HD
• FOXlife HD
• 24Kitchen HD
• Food Network HD
• Travel Channel HD
• BravaHD
• MTV Live HD
• MTV HD
• Comedy Central HD
• Nickelodeon HD
• ESPN America HD
• myZen.tv HD
• Fashion TV HD
• Dorcel XXX HD
• Penthouse HD

Also available on many platforms:

• BBC HD
• BBC One HD
• VRT één HD
• VRT Canvas HD
• Das Erste HD
• ZDF HD
• Arte HD

Scheduled for 2013

• Comedy Central Family HD
• Comedy Central Extra HD

Satellite viewers can receive a number of additional HD channels from the surrounding countries when broadcasting free-to-air. But these channels are not part of HD services offered in the Netherlands nor broadcast programming aimed at the Dutch market.