Nederlands Omroepproduktie Bedrijf NV

Nederlands Omroepproduktie Bedrijf N.V. (NOB) was a Dutch company that supplied facilities for television and radio productions to public and commercial broadcasters in the Netherlands and abroad. It originated from the Facilitair Bedrijf (Facilities Division) of the NOS, the Dutch public broadcasting organisation, and was legally privatised on 1 January 1988 under the Media Act of 1987. The company was wholly owned by the Dutch State. At its height, NOB operated numerous radio and television studios, outside broadcast vehicles, a set-building workshop, and the broadcasting choirs and orchestras, and it grew into a group with subsidiaries in Belgium, Germany and Hungary, ranking among the largest audiovisual production companies in Europe. NOB's core business was the provision of production facilities: studio space, recording and editing services, outside broadcast trucks, set construction, and post-production. Its clients included the Dutch public broadcasters as well as commercial channels. In the 1990s the NOB Holding expanded into a range of businesses, including NOB Decor, which had the largest set workshop in Europe, and NOB Interactive, which experimented with green screen and early live augmented reality. The company opened its first foreign branch, NOB Deutschland, in Hürth near Cologne in 1992, with eight television studios; a Hungarian branch followed in 1994 with a studio in Budapest; and in Belgium it took over the existing ENG Videohouse in Vilvoorde. By the late 1990s the audiovisual production market had become saturated, and NOB, which had never really been profitable since its founding, began to suffer increasingly large losses. After several reorganisations, it was decided in 2001 to divest the recording business, the editing business, the foreign companies and the real estate on the Media Park. In 2002 the company was definitively split into three: NOB Cross Media Facilities, DutchView and C*IRIS. NOB Cross Media Facilities focused on broadcast-related activities for the public broadcasters; DutchView took over the management of the remaining television studios and outside broadcast vehicles; and C*IRIS continued independently in post-production, graphics and editing. Almost the entire Media Park was sold to TCN Property Projects, while the foreign companies, including NOB Decor and Cinevideogroep, were sold to United Broadcast Facilities. In 2005 DutchView and C*IRIS came together under DutchView Holding and from 2007 traded jointly as DutchView. DutchView Holding was later absorbed into Consolidated Media Industries (CMI), which was acquired by the American NEP Group in 2015 and has been called NEP The Netherlands since 1 January 2016. NOB Cross Media Facilities was sold to Technicolor, a subsidiary of French Thomson, in 2006, and has been known as Technicolor Nederland since 1 January 2008. The NOB name thus disappeared from the Dutch audiovisual landscape in the early 21st century.

The Nederlands Omroepproduktie Bedrijf N.V. (NOB) originated from the Facilitair Bedrijf (Facilities Division) of the NOS, the Dutch public broadcasting organisation. That division employed numerous technicians and maintained a warehouse of broadcasting equipment, several radio and television studios and master control rooms in Hilversum, 8 large and 12 smaller radio reportage vehicles, 12 large multi-camera vehicles and 9 single-camera vehicles for television, the set-building workshop, and the broadcasting choirs and orchestras. Until 1988 the NOS managed the studios and provided reportage facilities, and the various broadcasters used NOS services for their television recordings. On 1 January 1988 the Facilities Division was legally privatised so that more competition could take place in the audiovisual market, to prepare the company for that market and to allow the State to sell its shares. The division continued under the name Nederlandse Omroepproduktie Bedrijf (NOB). Simultaneously with the entry into force of the Media Act of 1987, the then-called Omroepkwartier was transferred from the NOS to the NOB. The site has since been called Media Park, nicknamed by staff the NOS/NOB terrain. In the 1990s NOB Holding grew into a group with a multitude of companies, including NOB Decor, which had the largest set workshop in all of Europe, and NOB Interactive, where experiments were conducted with the newest techniques of the time such as green screen and the first iterations of live AR. NOB Interactive had Studio 25 specially built at the Filmcentrum for this purpose, where the reception hall of the NPO building is now located. The company had subsidiaries in Belgium, Germany and Hungary and could be counted among the largest audiovisual production companies in Europe. In 1992 NOB opened its first foreign branch, called NOB Deutschland. In the German town of Hürth, near Cologne, a large studio complex was built consisting of eight television studios. Although the company was managed from Hilversum, the German branch enjoyed a large degree of autonomy. In the German studios, programmes were mainly produced for the commercial channels RTL Television and Sat.1, and some programmes were produced for the public broadcasters WDR and ZDF. In spring 2007 the name changed from NOB Deutschland to nobeo, which then changed in October 2021 to EMG Deutschland. In 1994 NOB opened its own branch in Hungary, consisting of a single television studio in Budapest. Whereas the German and Hungarian branches were set up entirely anew, the Belgian company was an existing business. This company, ENG Videohouse in Vilvoorde, had its own television studios and television reportage vehicles. EMG Belgium, as the company has been called since 2021, works mainly for the Flemish channels VTM, 2BE, VRT, VT4, Vitaya, Trends Z, Play Sports and so on. In the late 1990s the market for audiovisual productions became so saturated that NOB, which had never really been profitable since its founding, began to suffer increasingly large losses that made sound business operations impossible. It was decided in 2001, after several reorganisations, to divest the recording business (studio management, reportage vehicles, single-camera business, etc.), the editing business (design and image editing), the foreign companies and the real estate on the Media Park in order to make the company healthy again. In 2002 the enterprise was definitively split into three companies: NOB Cross Media Facilities, DutchView and C*IRIS. NOB Cross Media Facilities would concern itself only with broadcast-related activities such as the realisation of the broadcasts of the public broadcasters on radio and television, the provision of studio space for the Journaal, Studio Sport (which fell under the NOB TVJ department) and the radio studios on the Media Park. The management of the other television studios and the reportage vehicles was transferred to the new company DutchView, while the business units that handled post-production, graphic work and the editing of image and sound continued independently as C*IRIS. Virtually the entire Media Park was sold to TCN Property Projects. The foreign companies, including NOB Decor and Cinevideogroep, were sold to United Broadcast Facilities. DutchView and C*IRIS came together under DutchView Holding from 2005 and bundled their services under the name DutchView from 2007. DutchView Holding was later absorbed into Consolidated Media Industries (CMI), which included among others Infostrada, Post Park and Avi-Drome. In 2015 CMI was acquired by the American company NEP Group, and since 1 January 2016 this holding has been called NEP The Netherlands. In 2005 possibilities were examined for the Stichting NOS (now the NPO) to take over NOB Cross Media Facilities completely again. The main income of this NOB division came from the public broadcaster, so this choice was a logical step. However, in 2006 the audiovisual company was not transferred to the NPO after all. On 4 October 2006 it was announced that NOB Cross Media Facilities had been sold to Technicolor, a subsidiary of French Thomson. Since 1 January 2008 this former NOB division has been called Technicolor Nederland. Thomson found itself in severe financial difficulties from 2009. When talks were held with Swedish Ericsson at the end of 2011, the broadcast division was also discussed. This resulted in 2012…

• 2021

  nobeo renamed EMG Deutschland in October; Belgian branch known as EMG Belgium.

• 2016

  CMI holding renamed NEP The Netherlands on 1 January.

• 2015

  Consolidated Media Industries (CMI) acquired by American NEP Group.

• 2008

  Former NOB division renamed Technicolor Nederland on 1 January.

• 2007

  NOB Deutschland renamed nobeo; DutchView and C*IRIS bundled services under the name DutchView.

• 2006

  NOB Cross Media Facilities sold to Technicolor, a subsidiary of French Thomson, announced on 4 October.

• 2005

  DutchView and C*IRIS came together under DutchView Holding; possibilities examined for NOS to take over NOB Cross Media Facilities.

• 2002

  Company definitively split into NOB Cross Media Facilities, DutchView and C*IRIS; Media Park sold to TCN Property Projects; foreign companies sold to United Broadcast Facilities.

• 2001

  Decision after several reorganisations to divest recording business, editing business, foreign companies and Media Park real estate.

• 1994

  Branch opened in Hungary with a television studio in Budapest.

• 1992

  First foreign branch, NOB Deutschland, opened in Hürth near Cologne with eight television studios.

• 1988

  Facilities Division of NOS legally privatised as Nederlandse Omroepproduktie Bedrijf (NOB) on 1 January; Omroepkwartier transferred from NOS to NOB and renamed Media Park.

State-owned national audiovisual facilities provider for public and commercial broadcasters, later expanded internationally.

• NOB Cross Media Facilities

  Broadcast-related activities for public broadcasters, including realisation of radio and television broadcasts, studio space for Journaal and Studio Sport, and radio studios on Media Park.

• DutchView

  Management of television studios and reportage vehicles; later merged with C*IRIS under DutchView Holding.

• C*IRIS

  Post-production, graphic work and editing of image and sound.

• NOB Decor

  Set workshop, the largest in Europe.

• NOB Interactive

  Experiments with green screen and early live AR; had Studio 25 built at Filmcentrum.

1. 1Nederlands Omroepproduktie Bedrijf NVwikidata.org
2. 2Nederlands Omroepproduktie Bedrijfnl.wikipedia.org