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Net5

Dutch commercial TV channel

Wikipedia contributorsAdapted for Fathomly · View authors
5 min read
Source updated September 14, 2026

Net5 is a Dutch free-to-cable commercial TV channel and is part of Talpa TV, formerly a part of SBS Broadcasting B.V. and now owned by Talpa Network. Other channels of the group in the Netherlands are SBS6, Veronica, and SBS9. It is aimed at high-educated female viewers. The station broadcasts various series, reality shows, and films.

01History

Net5 was launched by the SBS Broadcasting Group as their second commercial channel in the Netherlands next to SBS6. The head of SBS was Fons van Westerloo who left the company to work until 31 January 2008 to head the main competitor RTL Nederland (part of the RTL Group). Van Westerloo announced the new broadcast on 4 December 1998. It was supposed to become a commercial version of the Netherlands Public Broadcasting, being positioned as a higher quality television network, having already acquired British drama series, American series, Channel 4 documentaries and feature films. Nederland 1 manager Joop Daalmeijer considered Net5 to be "the greatest marketing success of the year", as the channel was poised to compete against it, but was also seen with scepticism, as in order to build a stable foothold, the channel would carry a solid base of Dutch programming, which was limited to less 15% of the airtime. Net5 was launched on 1 March 1999 and the first broadcast was the film Braveheart.

Since there were not that many commercial channels at the time, the Net5 brand was partly chosen to compete directly with the RTL 5 channel. The goal was for viewers to put Net5 on position 5 of their remote control settings instead of the older channel RTL 5. But research showed that more people would place RTL 5 on five, and Net5 on position nine.

From January 2000 to August 2002, Net5 shared its channel with the children's channel Kindernet. Kindernet broadcast from the early morning until 15.00.

The 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 text 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.

02Programming

Net5 is a television station aimed at high-educated female viewers. The station broadcasts various series, reality shows and films.

Series

Reality shows

Watch videos about Net5Explainers and documentaries on YouTube (opens in a new tab)

Sources and credits

This article is adapted from the Wikipedia article “Net5”, written by its contributors and licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Fathomly has changed the layout, removed citation markers, navigation and maintenance notices, and adjusted punctuation. This adapted version is shared under the same license. For references, see the original article.

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