Videoland (Netherlands)

Videoland is a Dutch OTT online service provider owned by RTL Nederland. Originally it was a retail chain of video rental stores. Its main competitor is Netflix. Videoland is registrered as a VOD-service in Luxembourg; hence the law of Luxembourg (as is for the tv-stations RTL4, RTL5 etc) applies to Videoland.

Videoland

Company type	Subsidiary
Founded	1984; 41 years ago (1984)
Founders	Nico Broersen Gerard van Stijn
Headquarters	Hilversum , Netherlands
Services	Video on demand Service (2010 - present) VHS/DVD home video rentals (1984 - 2013)
Parent	Philips (1992 - 1996) Entertainment Retail Group (1997 - 2011) Moving Pictures Holding (2011 - 2013) RTL Nederland (2013 - present)
Website	videoland.com

History

Videoland was founded by Nico Broersen and Gerard van Stijn and opened its first video rental store in 1984. From 1992 to 1996 Philips was the owner, and took over the management in the Netherlands. In 2004, the 200th store opened.^[1]

By the end of the 2000s, video stores came under more pressure due to the rise of Video-on-Demand services. Parent company Entertainment Retail Group filed for bankruptcy in 2010. The Videoland formula and franchise were then acquired by Moving Pictures Holding.^[2]

Video-on-Demand Service

Videoland on Demand launched in 2010 and RTL Nederland took a share of 65% in 2013. Since 2015 Videoland on Demand is fully owned by RTL Nederland. As a result, Videoland's rental stores closed their doors.^[3]

Since 2015, the company has also been producing its own programs for its video-on-demand service.

Awards

• In the fall of 2018, Videoland won a Hashtag Award in the category Best Video on Demand with the series Mocro Maffia.^[4]
• In May 2020, Videoland won two The Best Social Awards in the categories Best Positive Impact and Best Launch with the documentary Bont Girl, by Famke Louise.^[5]