They constitute separate markets, the common feature of which is the fact that they have been extensively cabled for three decades and are thus able to receive neighbouring countries' channels.
[4][circular reference] VRT and RTBF share broadcasting facilities in Brussels, while BRF operates from Eupen.
They are both governed by different law and a different parliament an example of this is the fact that the French languages public broadcaster RTBF is allowed to sell advertising on television and have actual ad breaks, while the Flemish public broadcaster can only sell product placement and sponsor billboards on television.
All other channels air a majority of international (mostly US made) productions in original language (English) with subtitles.
Local Belgian channels find it sometimes difficult to compete with French TV which has vastly larger production budgets due to the market size difference (France having an addressable audience 15 times the size of the French part of Belgium) but in the past years the local channels have been investing in local qualitative drama and entertainment which has increased market share and viewership.
Apart from the channels listed above, most cable, satellite and IPTV platforms in Belgium distribute television stations from other European countries including the Netherlands, Germany, France, and the United Kingdom.
Telenet is however pushing for their DVB-C channels as interactive Digital TV, using their cable network for uplink purposes.
From July 2005 Integan, a cable network operator in the outskirts of the city of Antwerp, is offering HDTV.
Since 1 December 2018, only RTBF broadcasts its channels free-to-air on the terrestrial DVB-T network within the French Community of Belgium.
The VRT multiplex transmissions from Brussels, Gent, Sint-Pieters-Leeuw, and Veltem will continue to operate on channel 22 (482 MHz).
In May 2018, VRT announced it would cease its free-to-air DVB-T broadcasts on 1 December 2018,[5] citing "changing media consumption usage.'
In Eastern Wallonia, there is a 2-hours regional variation on Euronews for BRF TV, public channel of the German-speaking Community of Belgium.
RTBF switched off analogue broadcast on 1 March 2010, thus making Belgium complete its digital transition.
An updated list of channels can be found[7][8] and includes RTBF La Une, RTBF La Deux, RTL-TVi, and Club RTL and Plug TV in SD and HD as well as a number of French language Belgian radio stations.
Both TV Vlaanderen and TeleSat are Belgian subsidiaries of the M7 Group S.A., who also owns the Dutch DTH platform, CanalDigitaal.
Proximus (formerly Belgacom) is offering digital television (IPTV) via ADSL2+, VDSL, VDSL2 and FTTH using its nationwide copper network.