There is an overwhelming sense, both in professional circles and in academic writing, that television as we knew it is no more (e.g. Spigel and Olsson 2004; Turner and Tay 2009). Undeniably, the era of broadcast television as the prime mass medium is crumbling, making way for a more complex broadcasting landscape where diverse (niche, global, digital, interactive) channels divide the market, competing with other devices, media and cross-media applications. However, there are important continuities so we should be cautious in declaring the ‘end’ or ‘death’ of television. Historical media research has taught us to be cautious in predicting the future impact of current changes, as differences and evolutions are more easily discernible than continuities. With the benefit of hindsight, the conclusion is often that, yes, the media have changed, but, no, not in the ways we expected, partly because some things have stayed the same.

In this paper, this point is made by drawing on the framework of television as a national medium, an old paradigm that is very persistent and still relevant. It provides a good example of the complex, seemingly contradictory combination of the old and the new in television. It urges us to be cautious when dealing with ‘the new’, not to underestimate it but to keep it in perspective. First, the classical argument about TV as a national medium is presented, followed by an assessment of its challenges and current value. It is argued that the national does remain an important organizing principle and frame of reference, not only in terms of production and within programmes but also for audiences, who still tend to prefer national programming. Using cultural proximity as a central concept, this claim is empirically explored in the Flemish (Dutch-speaking Belgian) case.

National television in a global era

From its start, European television was organized and regulated on the level of nation states, who sought to control the new medium, which they deemed important to support – but also to form – the nation as ‘one people’ (de Leeuw et al. 2008). Television was instrumental in uniting citizens into one ‘imagined community’ (Anderson 1991), creating unprecedented moments of simultaneously shared experiences, both exceptional media events such as royal coronations or weddings (Dayan and Katz 1992) and everyday programmes such as daily news broadcasts, soaps and game shows (e.g. Cardiff and Scannell 1987; Bourdon 1992; Scannell 1996).