EBU Director General Ingrid Deltenre has written to the Dutch House of Representatives and Members of Parliament regarding discussions currently taking place concerning the future remit of EBU Member NPO.

The letter, sent on 5 October, says the EBU is “following with interest the on-going debate in the Netherlands about the definition of the public service remit of NPO and the transparency of NPO’s programming costs.”  

The main issue of discussion around NPO’s public service remit is whether it should be allowed to show ‘entertainment’ content on its channels. The letter highlights the results of a recent EBU questionnaire on the subject. From the 38 Members who responded, only one, Malta, is not permitted to use public funding for entertainment content. The situation in the country is however currently under review.

Regarding the debate on whether NPO should be transparent about the cost of each specific programme carried in its schedule, the letter states:

“Transparency is indeed very important for the trust and support of public service media. However, opening up the cost of specific programmes shown by NPO could expose it to an unacceptable level of political and public pressure on what content to show and not to show, thereby critically undermining NPO’s editorial independence and programme autonomy.”

To view the letter in full, please click here.