Belgian NGroup Launches Nostalgie+ in Flanders

ANTWERP, Belgium — On May 17, NGroup launched Nostalgie+, a fully digital Dutch-language radio station for the Flanders region of the country.

The station joins the Dutch language Nostalgie and NRJ stations, and kicked off with a “Bed-In” opening show at 5 p.m. featuring DJ’s Leen Demaré and Domi Crommen, who presented the program from their hotel bed.

Expanded Reach

With “Your Golden Years” as its tagline, the new station targets the active older audience and offers a musical format focusing on a ’60s to ’80s repertoire. It broadcasts 24/7 via DAB+, digital TV, the station’s website and an app.

“We’ve noticed a substantial boost in digital radio consumption,” commented Nostalgie radio Managing Director Tom Klerkx. “Thanks to our tailor-made digital radio streams, Nostalgie has expanded its reach and has become younger, reaching a broader audience. With Nostalgie+ as a totally digital station, we aim to strengthen our ‘fanship’ with the older audience. We offer all-time classics through Nostalgie, today’s hits via NRJ and the ‘golden years era’ with Nostalgie+, so we have hits for everyone.”

Nostalgie music director Dominique “Domi” Crommen is convinced that Nostalgie+ will attract additional listeners. “Programs like ‘Viva Vinyl’ are rapidly growing with Nostalgie. We also noted that, with thematic actions like ‘60 hours 60s,’ the 1960–1980s are in the heart of our listeners.”

Crommen added that, unlike other stations offering similar musical content, Nostalgie+ wants to be more than a non-stop music channel. “Our daytime program offers ‘assimilable’ classics. The evening program, for example, includes programs like “70s@7” and a weekly “Story” feature, such as a recent Abba Story.”

More Than Music

Flemish Media Minister Benjamin Dalle officially launched Nostalgie+. During the event, he pointed to the Flemish state’s investment in digital radio. “The Flemish government has been promoting digital radio for quite some time, and I’m happy to see that Nostalgie is expanding its DAB+ offering with Nostalgie+,” he said.

The week preceding the launch, Nostalgie aired its ‘60 hours 60s’ show and offered DAB+ radio sets to the audience.

NGroup introduced DAB+ station Nostalgie+ in Wallonia, the southern part of Belgium on Nov. 19. Since its launch just a few months ago, the station has built a market share of 1.5%, according to a CIM radio Sept. 2020–Feb. 2021 report.