SBS6

History

SBS stands for Scandinavian Broadcasting System. When the SBS Broadcasting Group started expanding outside of Scandinavia in 1995, one of the first countries where they set up a channel was the Netherlands with SBS6. They applied for a cable license in March of that year in an attempt to beat the launch of Veronica in September. Launch rumors included the defection of RTL 5's director of programming Fons van Westerloo to head the new channel from 1 May. SBS6 was the third Dutch commercial TV station after RTL 4 and RTL 5, which were launched in 1989 and 1993 respectively. The channel was set to counter the two RTL channels by having a strong localist flair (50% of its programming), while 40% of its imports were American. SBS6 launched on 28 August 1995.

When SBS6 was launched, they were in a tough competition with the channel Veronica, which started as a commercial station at the same time. Both SBS6 and Veronica wanted to be on channel 6 of the viewer's television. The channel was initially nicknamed as a "people's channel" or a "camping channel", but over time had become a broader channel, achieving the third place in the Dutch television market, behind NPO 1 and RTL 4, with a market share of 10%.

The SBS Broadcasting Group expanded their Dutch channel lineup with Net5 on 1 March 1999. In 2003, Veronica was added to the lineup.

The German ProSiebenSat.1 Media took over the parent company, SBS Broadcasting Group, on 27 June 2007. In 2011, all of SBS's activities in the Netherlands (through SBS Broadcasting B.V.), including the three TV stations (SBS6, Net5, and Veronica), the two TV guides (Veronica Magazine and Totaal TV), production, design, and teletext activities were sold to a joint venture between Sanoma Media Netherlands (67%) and Talpa Holding (33%).

On 10 April 2017, Talpa Holding acquired a 67% stake from Sanoma Media Netherlands.

Programming

Imported

• According to Jim
• Band of Brothers
• Castle
• Close to Home
• Columbo
• Coronation Street
• Days of Our Lives
• Diagnosis: Murder
• Elementary
• Escape to the Country
• Flashpoint
• The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air
• Friends
• Heartbeat
• House
• Little House on the Prairie
• Martin
• Medical Emergency
• The Mentalist
• Monk
• Murder, She Wrote
• My Wife and Kids
• NCIS
• NCIS: Los Angeles
• Rome
• The Sing-Off
• Space: Above and Beyond
• Under the Dome
• Who's the Boss?

Local

• Achmea Kennisquiz
• Alle hens aan dek
• Alles over wonen
• Andy & Melisa
• Als de brandweer
• Arbeidsmarkt TV
• BankGiro Loterij The Wall
• Battle of the Bands
• Bouw Je Droom
• Celblok H (an adaptation of the Australian drama Wentworth)
• De Bondgenoten
• Domino Day
• Groeten uit de Rimboe (2005-2010)
• Hart van Nederland
• Lang Leve de Liefde
• My Tribute to Elvis
• Postcodeloterij Miljoenenjacht
• Reportage
• Shownieuws
• Actienieuws
• Trauma Centrum
• Vandaag Inside

Sports

• BDO World Darts Championship
• Marathon Speedskating
• PDC World Darts Championship – Summaries only (live on the website)
• Red Bull Air Race
• UEFA Champions League, since the 2015/16 season
• FIFA World Cup qualification and UEFA European Championship qualifying matches of the Netherlands national football team (all home and friendly matches)

References

References

1. [https://variety.com/1995/scene/markets-festivals/sbs-firing-up-its-cable-web-99124108/ SBS Firing Up Its Cable Web]
2. [https://variety.com/1995/scene/markets-festivals/sbs-new-dutch-channel-bets-on-localism-99127605/ SBS’ new Dutch channel bets on localism]
3. Westerhof, Jan. (26 June 1995). "SBS 6 wil sensatie èn dicht-bij-huis 'Je moet dicht bij jezelf en de kijker blijven'". [[de Volkskrant]].
4. "SBS6 van volkszender tot familiestation".
5. Lange, Yasha. (26 January 1999). "Publieke omroep niet bang voor commercieel Net 5". [[NRC Handelsblad]].
6. "VOO in jaartallen". Beeldengeluidwiki.nl.
7. Donald Koeleman. (June 27, 2007). "ProSiebenSat.1 acquires SBS". Broadband TV News.
8. Peter van der Ploeg. (April 20, 2011). "Sanoma en Talpa nemen SBS over". [[NRC Handelsblad]].
9. (10 April 2017). "Het is nu officieel: Sanoma verkoopt SBS aan Talpa". [[Nederlandse Omroep Stichting.