Television has meant a big change in history. Although it was invented in the 19th century, it took a long time to make television programmes. The first live broadcast was in 1951. It was broadcast on the Netherlands 1. This was the first television channel in the Netherlands. A television cost a lot of money. In the whole of the Netherlands there were only a few thousand people with a television.
Most people in this era were still listening to the radio. In the early 1960s, it wasn't just music and news that aired. People then listened en masse to hearing games. One of the most famous hearings was by Annie M.G. Schmidt. The hearing game was called 'In Holland there is a house'. This hearing game was like a soap opera. It was broadcast twice a month. Annie M.G. Schmidt became a dutchman thanks to this hearing game and very well-known Dutchman. She wrote poetry and stories. Many of her stories were made into a film.
It was not until 1964 that the Netherlands received a second television channel: the Netherlands 2. A few years later; in 1967, the first advertisement was also broadcast. Nowadays, television channels make their money mainly by broadcasting advertising. At that time, the television was mainly paid for by the government. This is still to a large extent the case with the Netherlands 1, 2 and 3. That is why there are also demands on the various programmes and broadcasters. Different types of programmes should be broadcast. This meant that music or only talk shows could not be made.
The various television broadcasters must also represent one group in society. In the early 1960s this meant that there was a Protestant broadcaster and a Catholic broadcaster. At one point, an Evangelical broadcaster was also added. But nowadays we have many more different groups in Dutch society. This is because we live in a multicultural society.
Throughout history, the Netherlands was a haven for various oppressed populations. In 1492 the Jews were persecuted in Spain. At that time, the Netherlands was already very tolerant towards different faiths. That's why a lot of Jews came to the Netherlands. From the 16th century onwards, the Netherlands was an important trading nation. As a result, the Dutch came into contact with people from other countries. Also, a lot of foreigners came to the Netherlands to trade.
The Netherlands has always been a haven. In the era of television and computer, this is still the case. Between 1945 and 1965, about 300,000 Dutch, Moluccans and Indos from the former Dutch East Indies came to the Netherlands. In the 1960s, the Netherlands had a lot of work and few workers. They went to get workers from other countries, like Morocco and Turkey. These workers would only stay for a while. They were guest workers. That basically meant they couldn't do anything but work. The family was also not allowed to come and they were not allowed to apply for a Dutch identity. In the end, the law was changed. After a few years, the guest workers were able to let their families come over.
In the 1970s, a lot of people from Suriname came to the Netherlands. Suriname was still part of the Dutch kingdom in the early 1970s. The Surinamese were allowed to live here legally. In Suriname they had little chance of getting a job. The Netherlands was much richer and had better facilities for people without work. This was the reason why in the 90's many Antilleans and Arubans came to the Netherlands.
