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33 channels
Belgium's TV landscape reflects its linguistic divide better than any parliament. With three official languages, Dutch (Flemish), French, and a small German-speaking community, the country runs three separate broadcasting ecosystems that barely cross-pollinate. The public broadcasters set the tone: VRT for Flanders, RTBF for Wallonia, and BRF for the German-speaking east. Each delivers its own news bulletins, Het Journaal at 19:00 on VRT, the JT on RTBF and RTL-TVI, and Flemish viewers watch their evening news with subtitles, while French-speaking Belgians get dubs on foreign series, a split that mirrors the wider European language fault line. Commercial channels like VTM and Play4 (Flemish) and RTL-TVI and Club RTL (French) compete fiercely, but the market is small, just 39 channels total, so primetime revolves around local talent shows, Flemish soaps like Thuis, and French-language reality formats such as Les Anges. Live sports matter: the Jupiler Pro League football, the Tour of Flanders cycling classic, and Red Devils matches pull huge audiences on both sides. News channels like LN24 (French) and business stations like Kanaal Z (Flemish) carve out niches for politically engaged viewers. Music channels, though shrinking, still carry local pop and rock from both language groups. What sets Belgium apart from its neighbours is this enforced dualism: a single country where the remote control speaks two completely different programme guides.