BBC TV in the Netherlands

As I'm sure some of us know, BBC TV channels are available to view in the Netherlands, and one or two other nearby countries in Europe. I'm not referring to the commercial offerings from BBC Worldwide, but the channels funded by our TVL ... BBC One/Two/Three ... etc.

(Yes, you can check into an Amsterdam hotel or guesthouse, turn on the telly at 20:30 CET on a Tuesday evening and watch the latest episode of EastEnders almost as though you're watching it at home!)

Do TV viewers in the Netherlands and elsewhere get our BBC channels for free, or do they receive them as part of basic cable/satellite TV subscriptions? If they get them as part via pay TV, how much of that subscription revenue (if any) goes towards the TVL?

Some of your questions have been discussed here:

http://www.tvforum.co.uk/tvhome/english-tv-abroad-39309/

As I used to live there...... (and I was just there this last weekend)

Everyone has to pay for their TV, no matter from who they receive it - most basic price is around €30/month, of which about €12/month which goes to paying for the NPO Channels and the rest goes to the TV providers such as UPC, KPN

But, with UPC especially, BBC1 and 2 are part of the basic packages whilst 3,4, Cbeebies are part of the "extra" channels

Whereas with many of the other TV providers BBC1 and 2 are also part of the basic packages whilst 3 and 4 may, or may not be, part of their extra channels!

Saying that I was staying at the Quinton England Hotel and it stated I would receive BBC1, 2 and World - I didn't get any and in fact what was meant to be BBC World was actually Al Jazeera!

Discussed at length in the thread - but Benelux countries have deals with the BBC that allow BBC One and BBC Two to be carried on cable networks (subscription based) and the BBC are paid in return.

When BBC programme makers were negotiating "UK and EIRE" (as they were known) rights for stills, archive etc. the standard BBC rights agreement usually included a small caveat to include this, and some freelance contracts also included a "cable supplement" to cover the fact that the BBC were getting a small additional income from overseas cable viewers. It was marginal and pre-dates the BBC being on satellite in the UK. (There used to be large off-air aerial arrays to allow the signals to be received from the south coast of England.

I think these have all been rolled in to the current BBC "Public Service Rights" agreements that are now the norm.

The feeds were sourced from a large parabolic array near Zeebrugge, that 'looked' at Dover. Which of course
meant in the early 00s, that the version of BBC 1 seen over there was South East (Tunbridge Wells) and not
London

The Beeb took the technical quality of the feed seriously (as far as what was radiated from Dover) Dover (along with Crystal Palace) were the only two sites that had brand new analogue transmitters installed in 2001 (the rest of the analogue Tx network was allowed to be run down, and be patched up as and when required). I'm reliably informed, Dover got new kit, primarily to preserve the integrity of that feed. (Neighbouring Bluebell Hill was still using its original 1974 kit, right up to DSO in June 2012)

All rather pointless really, because two years later BBC transmissions on Astra went FTA, and the Benelux boys
sourced the Beeb from that instead.