Flanders boasts seven paid-for dailies. All of them are distributed in the morning, with five of them national and two regional (on one province each, Limburg and Antwerp). Some of the national newspapers have different versions depending on the region where they are distributed. For example, Het Nieuwsblad, the second-largest newspaper in Flanders, has 16 daily editions per Flemish region. It even has an edition with another title: De Gentenaar. This edition is essentially Het Nieuwsblad,but contains specific news on the city of Ghent. There is also one free daily newspaper, Metro, which is mostly distributed in train and subway stations. Two regional newspapers are distributed on a weekly basis, with Bruzz focusing on the news in and around Brussels and Krant van West-Vlaanderen on the news in the province of West-Flanders. De Zondag is the only free weekly newspaper (CIM, 2019).
The paid-for daily newspaper industry is dominated by three publishers: DPG Media, Mediahuis, and Mediafin (part of Roularta Media Group). These companies have the most-read dailies in their portfolio (VRM, 2019a). The average price for a single copy of a newspaper varies from approximately EUR 1.50–2.50 on weekdays. For weekend and special editions, the price is substantially higher. On the whole, the prices of paid-for dailies have risen slightly during the last decade (VRM, 2019b).
95 per cent of all Flemish households are equipped with television. Almost half of them have a television with Internet access. Although television viewing via cable is still possible, nearly all Flemish households have switched to digital television viewing. Most of them are connected through one of the two main Belgian television providers, Telenet and Proximus, both of which offer a wide variety of national and international television channels. Alternative providers are TV Vlaanderen and Orange. In Flanders the main broadcasters are VRT, the public broadcaster, and the commercial broadcasters DPG Media (also market leader for newspapers) and SBS Belgium (part of Telenet). All have several freely accessible television channels, and VRT and DPG Media both offer news programmes, with their most watched news programmes airing simultaneously at 19:00. In addition, VRT offers a wide variety of news shows that provide more background to the news.
Reach of radio is near-absolute in Flanders. VRT has an especially large portfolio of radio channels accessible throughout the region. Apart from nationally available radio channels, VRT has separate channels for the five Flemish provinces, with its main radio station, Radio 2, providing regional programming a few hours a day. All of its radio channels have distinct news broadcasts; for example, the news channel for youngsters, MNM, is usually more accessible than the news bulletins on its more specialised news radio channel, Radio 1. The commercial broadcaster DPG Media also distributes radio throughout Flanders. SBS too offers radio, but not at national FM frequencies (VRM, 2019c).
The Internet penetration in Flanders is very high, with 98 per cent of Flemish households having access to the Internet and more than 90 per cent of Flemish people using it on a daily basis (De Marez & Vandendriessche, 2019; VUB & RMG, 2020). All Flemish newspaper brands are active online, with VRT offering free access to its news sites, audiovisual player, and audio apps. The sites and apps of the commercial newspaper brands are partially behind a paywall. Most of the Flemish radio channels can be streamed for free via the Internet or DAB+ (Digital Audio Broadcasting +). The penetration of DAB+ is limited, estimated at 10 per cent. Flemish television channels offer possibilities to watch their programmes online, and VRT has an online platform where people can watch live or review programmes for free. The commercial television broadcasters also provide online platforms to view their television programmes. These are mostly free, subsidised through advertising, and sometimes complemented with a subscription model for premium features.
