vrt.be
Do you think there is a good free live TV streaming site like VRT Nu out there? If so, it's probably because you already have a Netflix or Hulu subscription. Maybe you even pay for the other big TV network in Belgium, VTM. A public cable company couldn't really compete with that, could they?
Well, that's up to you to decide. I can tell you that VRT Nu offers a great free live TV streaming experience with plenty of content to choose from. Plus, their mobile app is fantastic and the site is incredibly reliable. If you're looking for a great streaming site that offers a lot of value, VRT Nu may be the perfect option for you.
History
VRT is the current successor to 3 Belgian national media companies. Prior to VRT, you had the Nationaal Instituut voor de Radio-omroep (1931-1960), Belgische Radio- en Televisieomroep (1960-1991), and Belgische Radio- en Televisieomroep Nederlandstalige Uitzendingen (1991-1998). Finally, on January 1, 1998, the VRT rename came along.
However, the name wasn't all that changed on this date. The company's structure and legal status also changed entirely. It went from being a semi-governmental entity (a parastatale) to a publicly owned corporation.
Since VRT is the successor to the NIR and INR, both Belgian media organizations - the public corporation and its French Belgian counterpart - now share EBU membership. This association oversees public media broadcasting throughout Europe and Mediterranean rim, including the world-famous annual Eurovision Song Contest.
The commercial television company, VTM, ended VRT's long-held monopoly and took about half of VRT's viewership. This forced VRT to greatly improve the quality of their programming in order to retain audience. One way that VRT has attempted to do this is by outsourcing external production companies, such as Woestijnvis. These companies are responsible for hits like The Mole and Man Bites Dog.
Another way VRT has competed with VTM is by founding and growing its 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 think VRT Nu's site design is great. This is one of the best free live TV streaming sites, in terms of design, that I've seen in a while. It's 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 site layout- a la Netflix or Hulu. You will find 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 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 good pacing; alternating between side-scrolling horizontal menus and galleries of thumbnails.
Although there is nothing inherently new or innovative happening here, I'll say this: VRT Nu uses space well, providing a user experience that never gets stale or stagnant - no matter where on the site you happen to be.
The "Watch Live" tab in the site menu bar lets you watch all of VRT Nu's live streams in a fully dynamic and responsive TV guide. Each currently airing program has a large thumbnail, and you can look to the right for a glimpse of what is coming up next. This is the kind of free live TV streaming experience that you dream of!
The TV Guide on the website is a text-based layout that is easy to navigate and immersive. It has three main sections (Een, Canvas, and Ketnet), each of which has an hour-by-hour list of programming. You can also toggle to tomorrow or the day after for a look at what's happening later this week.
Honestly, I don't know if I have ever come across a TV guide that is as much fun to use as this one is. And that's really saying something, isn't it? I mean, it's a TV guide we're talking about here, after all, not a drone or something.
I find it a little annoying when VRT Nu lingers on their site's design, but I do like the addition of a section dedicated just to browsing categories. This makes it easier to browse for programs based on your interests and saves you a lot of time.
Content and Features
VRT Nu offers a variety of TV shows that can be watched on any of VRT's currently airing channels. This means that users can watch their favorite shows from Een, Canvas, and Ketnet for free. You can also watch recently aired movies on VRT Nu.
This TV streaming site offers a variety of options for watching live television. You can either watch for free, or you can catch up on your favorite shows by paying for a subscription. You can watch hundreds of hours of premium content, free of charge, as long as you live in Belgium.
Mobile and Desktop Experience
VRT NU offers a great free live TV streaming experience on your computer or laptop, and its mobile app is also one of the most user-friendly out there. On the Apple App Store, the VRT Nu app has an average user rating of 4.8 (out of 5). People love the smooth and user-friendly interface of the mobile app just as much as they love the great live TV streaming experience on VRT NU's desktop site.
Unfortunately, Android users are out of luck. There is not a native VRT Nu app available for Android. However, there are several APKs available online if you are willing to seek them out. It may be a little extra work to find, download, and transfer the APK to your phone? but if the Android APK app is half as good as the native iOS one, I would say that it is definitely worth the trouble.
If you don't own an iOS device and don't have the knowhow or the interest in messing with downloading the Android workaround app, don't worry ? the 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're not using an app at all!