The N-VA was the most prominently featured political party in Flemish TV news last year, with party leader Bart De Wever receiving the most airtime.
An analysis, conducted by the University of Antwerp for the Flemish media regulator, revealed that 22.5% of airtime in Flemish news programmes was devoted to political figures, a percentage consistent with previous years.
The study found the N-VA dominated political airtime, claiming 38.3% on VRT (public broadcaster) and 43.7% on VTM (private broadcaster).
The CD&V followed with 18.9% on VRT and 13.3% on VTM, while Vooruit accounted for 16% and 18.3%, respectively, and the MR recorded 6.9% and 7%.
Collectively, parties from the Arizona coalition occupied approximately four-fifths of the political airtime—more representation than previous governing coalitions.
In terms of individual presence, Bart De Wever topped the rankings. On VRT, he was followed by Matthias Diependaele (N-VA), Zuhal Demir (N-VA), Sammy Mahdi (CD&V), and Theo Francken (N-VA). On VTM, Theo Francken, Conner Rousseau (Vooruit), Zuhal Demir (N-VA), and Georges-Louis Bouchez rounded out the top five after De Wever.
Political discussion programmes outside the main news bulletins – such as “De Afspraak”, “De Zevende Dag”, “Terzake”, and “Villa Politica” – also frequently featured N-VA members, although the disparity with other parties was less pronounced.
Notably, individual party leaders from CD&V and Vooruit appeared more often on these programmes than Bart De Wever.
