Dutch international channel BVN has terminated most of its worldwide satellite distribution due to cost cutting measures after Flemish broadcaster VRT stopped supporting the channel.
“Until now, the high costs of broadcasting via satellite could be shared with Flanders, but now that this subsidy stops, we are unfortunately forced to cut back on some expensive satellite contracts,” said Frans Klein, chairman of the BVN board.
The following satellites have stopped transmitting BVN permanently: SES-5 (in central and southern Africa); AsiaSat 5 (in Asia); Optus D2 (in Oceania), Galaxy 19 (in Canada, United States and Central America); while Multichoice/DStv (in Southern Africa) will stop from 1 November 2021.
However, satellite distribution via Astra 1 and 113WA-Eutelsat will continue. The 113WA-Eutelsat satellite ensures reception of BVN in the overseas territories that belong to the Dutch Kingdom, but also in South and Central America and a large part of the United States. In addition, BVN can also be received via the Astra 1 satellite throughout Europe and the neighbouring area in North Africa and South-West Asia. Exact reception regions can be found here.
BVN also continues to be available as a live stream from the website and on mobile apps for Android and Apple iOS.