Flanders-based telecommunication and media services provider Telenet Group, has agreed with publishing company Mediahuis to acquire 20% of Belgian broadcast group Vlaanderen Eén, Radio Nostalgie’s management company.
Mediahuis currently holds 75% of Radio Nostalgie’s shares and will, after the transaction, remain a majority stakeholder with 55%. Nostalgie SAS, part of the French NRJ Group, and Telenet will account for the other 25% and 20%, respectively.
Play Media nv (formerly SBS Belgium nv) will manage Telenet’s participation in Radio Nostalgie. Play and Mediahuis helped establish NRJ in the Flemish-speaking north of Belgium. By entering Vlaanderen Eén’s capital structure, Telenet is strengthening its position on the Flemish radio scape.
Nostalgie holds an audience market share of 6.2% (source: CIM ratings Nov-Dec 2022) with a daily audience of some 360 000 listeners. The station received a new FM license on Jan. 1, further guaranteeing the station’s FM broadcasts for the next five years. Radio Nostalgie also broadcasts on DAB+.
“This participation enhances Play’s reach in Flanders and strengthens our media cluster content-wise,” commented Jeroen Bronselaer, CEO of Play Media. “We’re looking forward to our next steps in radio with Mediahuis.”
“Being responsible for Nostalgie in the French-speaking part of the country, the strengthening of Nostalgie Vlaanderen is good news,” said Kim Beyns, CEO of NGroup — Nostalgie, NRJ, Chérie and Nostalgie+. “I’m convinced this will benefit our brand both nationally and internationally. As a ‘Nostalgie-lover,’ I can only applaud this.”