Belgium has participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 64 times since making its debut as one of seven countries at the first contest in 1956. The only countries with the same number or more appearances are Germany (65), France (64) and the United Kingdom (64). Belgium have been absent only three times in total, in 1994, 1997 and 2001, due to low scores in the previous contests that relegated them from the contest. Belgium has won the contest once, in 1986.
The Radio-télévision belge de la Communauté française is a public service broadcaster delivering radio and television services to the French-speaking Community of Belgium, in Wallonia and Brussels. Its counterpart in the Flemish Community is the Dutch-language VRT, and in the German-speaking Community it is BRF.
The VRT, is the national public-service broadcaster for the Flemish Community of Belgium.
Radio Vlaanderen Internationaal, was the international broadcasting service of Vlaamse Radio- en Televisieomroep (VRT), the public broadcaster of the Flemish community in Belgium.
Studio Brussel is a Dutch-speaking radio station in Belgium, owned by the VRT. The music played is considered more alternative than the other big radio stations, and is aimed mainly at a youth audience. The channel is an initiative of the Flemish Government and is financed principally by taxes.
Ketnet is a Dutch-language public children's television channel in Belgium owned and operated by the VRT, Flemish public broadcaster. It broadcasts a mix of locally produced and imported productions on the VRT3 channel from 6 am until 8 pm.
Ultratop is an organization which generates and publishes the official record charts in Belgium. Ultratop is a non-profit organization, created on the initiative of the Belgian Entertainment Association (BEA), the Belgian member organization of the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry. Two parallel sets of charts are concurrently produced and published, one on behalf of Belgium's mainly Dutch-speaking Flanders region, and the other catering to the nation's mainly French-speaking region of Wallonia.
André Laporte is a Belgian composer.
Wouter Vandenhaute is a Belgian Entrepreneur, Television producer and former sports-journalist. He is currently managing director of the Belgian media holding De Vijver, which includes the TV production company Woestijnvis and TV channel VIER. Vandenhaute married VRT sports journalist Catherine Van Eylen.
The Top 30 is a Belgian weekly music record chart compiled by the Vlaamse Radio- en Televisieomroeporganisatie (VRT) network and broadcast every Saturday on its station Radio 2. It debuted on 2 May 1970, with "Spirit in the Sky" by Norman Greenbaum as its first number-one song.
La Une is a Belgian national television channel, owned and operated by the French-language public-service broadcasting organization RTBF. La Une is the equivalent of Flemish station VRT 1, of the Flemish broadcaster VRT.
Het Leugenpaleis was a Flemish (Belgian) radio sketch comedy show by Hugo Matthysen and Bart Peeters, presented from 1988 until 1999 on radio station Studio Brussel. At the time it enjoyed a huge cult following.
Television in Belgium was introduced in 1953 and began with one channel each in Dutch and French. The country is heavily cabled, with 93% of households watching television through cable as of 2003.
MNM is a Belgian pop music radio station, launched in 2009, operated by the Flemish public broadcaster Vlaamse Radio- en Televisieomroep (VRT). The station broadcasts in Flanders and Brussels on FM and can be heard in France and the Netherlands on border areas.
The VRT Zendstation Egem is a 305 metres (1,001 ft) tall guyed mast used as a broadcast antenna. It broadcasts the radio and TV programs of the VRT and Q-Music, JOE fm, and Nostalgie Vlaanderen. There are also a number of antennas for mobile communications attached to the mast.
The mass media in Belgium is characterized by its diversity due to the linguistic divide in the country.
Nostalgie Vlaanderen(Nostalgie Flanders) is a private Belgian radio station broadcasting in Flanders and Brussels but can also be heard in some parts of Wallonia, and is dedicated to mainly music of the 1970s, 1980s and 1990s. Nostalgie Flanders is created on 20 March 2008, and is owned by Concentra Group, Corelio NV and the NRJ Group.
Nostalgie Wallonie is a private Belgian radio station broadcasting in Wallonia and Brussels, and is dedicated to mainly French and American music of the 1960s, 1970s, 1980s and 1990s. Nostalgie Wallonia was created in Namur by the group Les Éditions de l'Avenir. It is owned by the NRJ Group and Corelio.
Wij, Heren van Zichem was a Flemish TV drama series, originally broadcast between 1969 and 1972 in 26 episodes on the BRT. The program was based on several novels by Ernest Claes, who died just a few months before the show first aired. All episodes were shot in the Flemish village Zichem. At the time it was one of the most popular TV series in Flanders, attracting almost 2,960,000 viewers which is about 3/4 of all Flemish people. Tourism to the village boomed, while it hardly had enough bars, let alone restaurants to accommodate the tourists. In a 2004 interview with Het Nieuwsblad actor Fons Exelmans remembered that tourists were often confused because certain houses and buildings were located less close to each other than in the series. The actors were also invited to appear during annual festivities as promotional stunts.
This article covers the radio landscape in Flanders and Brussels, the Dutch-speaking region of Belgium known as the Flemish Community.
