vrt.be
Do you think it is worth your time and energy to check out VRT Nu, a free live TV streaming site like Netflix or Hulu? Maybe you already have a subscription to one of these services, or know someone who does. It's possible that a public cable company could have a service that is as good as or even better than these paid options.
Ultimately, this decision is up to you. I can say that VRT Nu typically offers a great live TV streaming experience and has a vast library of content (including international options).
History
VRT is the current successor to 3 previous Belgian national media companies. Prior to VRT, these were the Nationaal Instituut voor de Radio-omroep (1931-1960), Belgische Radio- en Televisieomroep (1960-1991), and Belgische Radio- en Televisieomroep Nederlandstalige Uitzendingen (1991-1998). On January 1, 1998, VRT renamed itself.
On this date, the company's structure and legal status changed entirely- from being a semi-governmental entity to a publicly owned corporation.
Since VRT is the successor to the NIR and INR, both the public corporation and its French Belgian counterparts now share EBU membership within the European Broadcasting Union (EBU). This association of public media broadcasters oversees many other things, such as the annual Eurovision Song Contest.
The creation of VTM marked the end of VRT's long-held monopoly on commercial television, resulting in the commercial TV company VTM taking about half of VRT's viewership. This has forced VRT to greatly improve the quality of their programming in an effort to fight back for audience. One way that VRT has attempted this is by outsource external production companies, such as Woestijnvis, who are responsible for hits like The Mole and Man Bites Dog.
Another way VRT has competed with VTM is by founding and growing their online streaming services. Today, each of VRT's channels has their own free streaming site. Then, of course, there is VRT Nu, which combines all VRT programming for one of the best free live TV streaming experiences available on the web today.
Design
Personally, I am impressed by the site design of VRT Nu. This is an excellent example of an old company proving that they can still compete with the young guns. This is one of the best free live TV streaming sites, in terms of design, that I have come across in some time. It is cutting edge, modern, professional, user-friendly, intuitive, and immersive - all qualities that I look for in a great streaming site.
Once you land on the home page, VRT Nu may not look like much. It starts off, more or less, with your typical TV streaming website layout. There is a large banner at the top of the page featuring a new or popular TV series, movie, or episode. Below that is a smattering of what?s popular, some more suggested titles to check out, and a great arrangement of catalogs separated by interest and category - from culture, children?s entertainment, sports, news clips, and more. Each of these sections offers a nice pacing with side-scrolling horizontal menus and galleries of thumbnails.
Although VRT Nu does not innovate anything new, it makes good use of space, providing an immersive user experience that never becomes stale or stagnant - no matter where on the website you happen to be.
The "Watch Live" tab in the site menu bar offers a fully dynamic and responsive TV guide that allows for quick and easy access to all of VRT's live streams by channel. Each currently live program comes up as an option (clearly and neatly separated from one another), with an extra-large thumbnail of the program. You can also look to the right for a glimpse of what is airing next. This is the kind of free live TV streaming experience that I dream of (that not enough free live TV streaming sites, in my opinion, come close to offering).
If you are looking for a more detailed television guide, you can always enter the TV Guide section of the site. This one is all text, andasserts itself in a smart and dynamic format. Split into three main sections (Een, Canvas, and Ketnet), scroll through every hour of programming in an intuitive and immersive manner. Easily toggle to tomorrow or the day after, too, for a look at what's happening later this week.
I do not know if I have ever come across a TV guide that is as much fun to use as this one. And this is really saying something, isn't it? I mean, it's a TV guide we are talking about here, after all, not something drone-like.
I find the site's design very well done, with a lot of clever features. However, I think one more element deserves mentioning- a section dedicated to browsing categories. This makes it much easier to find new programs based on your interests, and it also makes it easier to find what you're looking for on the site overall. Whether you're interested in movies, human interest pieces, culture and the arts, humor, philosophy, classic shows, or anything else - VRT Nu has you covered.
Content and Features
As VRT Nu provides content from all of VRT's channels - currently airing and recently aired - users will be able to watch their favorite shows, movies, and even live streams for free.
On this TV streaming site, you can watch live TV for free or catch up on past content. You can enjoy hundreds of hours of premium TV streaming, completely free of charge (so long as you live in Belgium).
Mobile and Desktop Experience
Many users love VRT NU's free live TV streaming experience on their desktop or laptop computer, as well as the high rating of its mobile app. On the Apple App Store, users rate VRT Nu's app 4.8 out of 5 stars on average. This user-friendly interface and smooth streaming experience make VRT NU one of the most popular live TV streaming apps.
Unfortunately, there is not a native VRT Nu app available for Android. However, several APKs are available online that allow users to experience virtual reality on their phones. It may be a little extra work to find, download, and transfer the APK to your phone, but if the Android APK is as good as the native iOS one, it is definitely worth the trouble.
If you do not own an iOS device, and you do not have the knowhow nor the interest in messing with downloading the Android workaround app, then you may be relieved to know that our mobile site is fully optimized for mobile devices. Although it may not be quite as convenient as being able to utilize the immersive and extremely responsive app, accessing VRT Nu?s mobile site will certainly get the job done. In fact, you may not even notice that you are not using an app at all!