Before I left for Kenya, we talked and daydreamed a lot about this concept at my previous employer, NPO Radio 1. But now it is finally here: BNNVARA programme ‘De Nieuws BV’ is the first hybrid Radio 1 show to be broadcasted on both radio and TV (NPO2) at the same time. The broadcasts were already visible on the regular channel of NPO Radio 1, and it looks very good.
The idea behind all of this was simple: talk shows on TV are actually nothing more than beautifully aired radio talkshows, and so you could easily turn a radio talkshow into a TV broadcast. Technically it is slightly more complicated, but there are many possibilities at hand.
The idea of broadcasting "radio on TV" simultaneously has been around for a long time - that’s what I learnt when I started doing more research for De Nieuws BV and later as an online coordinator at Radio 1. I found the best example with our ‘southern neighbors’, the Belgians, where broadcasts are made on both RTBF and La Une.
Just like in Hilversum, there were some major struggles at the Walloon broadcaster. There were claims that “the magic of radio” would disappear, for example (which is largely nonsense, according to my graduation research on 'visual radio'). All struggles and difficulties aside, I think it’s great that a Dutch broadcaster like BNNVARA finally dares to make a move towards a hybrid radio and TV programme, and I’m sure many more NPO Radio 1 shows will follow De Nieuws BV’s lead.
Click here to read more about visual radio, or click here to read more about the work I did at NPO Radio 1.