100 years VPRO (1926): 100 years of Liberal Protestant Radio Broadcasting

The VPRO is a creative public broadcaster that aims to contribute to new insights and ideas since 1926 with groundbreaking stories and intelligent imagination. The VPRO-Gids is the television guide of the VPRO. Since 1974, it has been the successor to Vrije Geluiden, which was published since 1926. Are you a member of the VPRO and what do you think of the VPRO's program offerings?

History VPRO

In 1870, the Dutch Protestant Union (NPB) was founded, a church society of liberal Protestants. The Central Committee for Liberal Protestantism emerged from this NPB, which in 1926 initiated the establishment of the Liberal Protestant Radio Broadcasting Corporation (VPRO). The broadcaster struggled, particularly in its early years, because as the last of the original broadcasters to be established, it received little airtime and had to frequently switch transmitters. It was only after the Broadcasting Time Decree of 1930 that the broadcaster secured a permanent place within the Hilversum broadcasting system, primarily broadcasting church services and cultural programs. Prominent figures in the early years included Everhard Spelberg and Nicolette Bruining, who served as chairperson for thirty years.

On March 9, 1941, the VPRO was dissolved as part of the Gleichschaltung (coordination) and replaced by the Nederlandsche Omroep (NO). Until the end of 1941, the Vrijzinnig Protestantsch Kerkcomité (VPK), as the legal successor to the VPRO, produced programs during the NO's broadcasting time. After the liberation, the government attempted to form a single national broadcaster, but this failed. From early 1947, the VPRO was back on the air.

In the late 1960s, a cultural shift took place: a new generation of programme makers managed to convince the general meeting to amend the statutes, replacing the ministers at the helm with representatives of the flower power generation. Following this, the broadcaster made a name for itself with groundbreaking, innovative, and, in its own unique way, liberal programs. The name VPRO was changed to VPRO to indicate that the original meaning of the letters had been definitively abandoned. Today, the statutory name is Omroepvereniging VPRO.

Since 1998, VPRO has been housed at the Hilversum Media Park in Villa VPRO , located on Wim T. Schippersplein, a distinctively designed office building created by the Rotterdam architectural firm MVRDV, which replaces a collection of eleven villas scattered throughout Hilversum.

Villa VPRO. Photo: Marco Raaphorst / Wikipedia.

Television

The VPRO also became the broadcaster of the Simplisties Verbond of Kees van Kooten and Wim de Bie, BG-TV of Emile Fallaux and Jan Eilander, among others, and Diogenes of Jan Blokker, Roel van Broekhoven, and Hans Fels, among others;

The Netherlands (2011): From the series 60 Years of TV – Kees van Kooten and Wim de Bie in Keek op de Week.

in the nineties from DNW/De Nieuwe Wereld by, among others, George Brugmans and Frank Wiering, Noorderlicht; Theo en Thea by Arjan Ederveen and Tosca Niterink; Hertenkamp, Jiskefet, Tegenlicht and RAM. More recent programs include De avondshow with Arjen Lubach, De wereld van de Chinezen with Ruben Terlou, VPRO Tegenlicht, Zomergasten, 100 Dagen voor de Klas and 100 dagen in je hoofd with Tim den Besten and Nicolaas Veul, Buitenhof, Hoofdzaken, Onze man bij de Taliban with Thomas Erdbrink and De Sekszusjes with Krista Arriëns and Marcelle Arriëns.

The Netherlands (2012): From the series 60 Years of TV – Tosca Niterink and Arjan Ederveen in Theo and Thea.

Logo VPRO

Lex Barten designed the first logo for the VPRO in 1926: the four letters as two pairs stacked on top of each other with a transmission tower and round transmission beams.
Jan Bons designed a logo in 1966 with a modest wordmark based on Helvetica letters.
In 1971 designed Jaap Drupsteen the next logo for the VPRO: an American-looking vignette with large, elegant letters in soft shapes, inspired by the Coca-Cola logo.
After ten years it was Willem van den Berg who, as a reaction against the previous logo, created a visual mark in 1981 with razor-sharp letters on an equally sharp V-shadow. This logo was in use for 28 years.
On August 24, 2010, VPRO introduced its current design. Design agency Thonik, which was responsible for the design, also gave the logo countless variations. In 2019, they renewed their ten-year-old logo into what it is today.