19:00 – 22:00
Study Tour executive briefing and dinner
Appelmans Brasserie
Media Gems Study Tour participants will get a briefing on the two-day Study Tour in Antwerp and Brussels, covering all major news media companies in Belgium. Get an overview of the market, what to expect, and what to look out for at each company we visit. All over a typical Belgian dinner, only 200 metres from the Antwerp Hilton.
Speaker
Bart Decoster
CEO, Ads & Data, Belgium
Study Tour Guides
Greg Piechota
Readers First Initiative Lead, INMA, United Kingdom
Tom Corbett
Head of European Division, INMA, Belgium
and companies in the business and financial services industry (both B2B and B2C markets); Bepublic, a journalistic PR bureau; and Bereal, a PR bureau specialising in real estate. Hidden gem to look out for: Their newsroom adventures into podcasts.
Le Soir is the leading quality news brand in the French-speaking part of Belgium. With a base of 120,000 digital-only subscribers. Alongside its Web site and app, Le Soir has developed an important means of communication to reach its readers: newsletters. Le Soir offers more than a dozen to which readers can subscribe.
La Libre Belgique is the second-largest quality news brand in French-speaking Belgium, well known for its coverage of politics (national and international), business, culture and climate. 50% of its subscriber base is digital only.
La DH Les Sports+ is THE Belgian French-speaking daily newspaper for the general public and for sports. Every day, it asserts its quest for exclusivity and for enriched information, explained in a direct tone. It privileges the notion of service in the approach of the day's subjects. The Sports section is a leader both in print and in digital.
LN24 is a news channel that covers political and economic news, both nationally and internationally. They decode social movements and embrace sports and cultural events. LN24 verifies the information it publishes and offers a positive approach to news. LN24's journalists are at the heart of IPM's editorial teams, alongside those of La Libre and DH, to ensure a synergy. LN24's newscasts are now co-produced with the group's press titles. The news channel has a 1.2% audience share, and LN24 is, slowly but surely, moving towards its 3% target. 
Het Nieuwsblad follows current affairs from near and far. Not just the hard facts in politics, sports, and the economy, but also the human stories behind the events. This makes Nieuwsblad a unique, highly accessible popular newspaper that can be read by the whole family. With the extensive regional editions and an adapted version for the city of Ghent, called De Gentenaar, Het Nieuwsblad has an audience of 2 million. Hidden gem to look for: Their strength in sports coverage and consumer problem-solving journalism.
Het Belang van Limburg is a true local hero with one of the highest market shares in their core region in Europe. The regional newspaper of Mediahuis Belgium for the Province of Limburg is rewarded for their regional investigative journalism and particularly high engagement with the community through User Generated Content and deep regional service journalism for the community. Hidden gem to look for: The unique citizen science project with the local university, where the newsbrand investigates societal problems on a broad regional level.
Gazet van Antwerpen is the biggest newspaper in the biggest city in Flanders: Antwerp. It aims to be the main news source for the city and all its inhabitants, without losing sight of national and international news. But Gazet van Antwerpen is much more than a city newspaper. With its three editions, it’s also the point of reference for the entire province. Hidden gem to look for: Their special coverage on the city's “war on drugs” and how that drives engagement and conversion.
Founded in 1918, Mediahuis’ daily De Standaard is one of the two Dutch-speaking Belgian quality newspapers. It has seen steady growth since starting the digital subscription journey by continuously experimenting with new storytelling formats. In 2022, De Standaard reached the point where the number of digital-only subscribers surpassed the print-only subscribers. Hidden gem to look for: Their early success in podcast journalism.
Het Laatste Nieuws (in English: “The Latest News”) is a Dutch-language newspaper in Belgium. HLN.be, the digital version of Het Laatste Nieuws, is the number one news site in Flanders. It features 24/7 news with a focus on current events, sports, and entertainment. The editors keep their finger on the pulse at all times: on the news site a new article appears on average every four minutes. VTM is the largest Flemish TV channel and has been winning over Flemish viewers with surprising entertainment, top-quality fiction from the region, and high-profile current affairs programmes for more than 30 years. The newsroom has merged with that of Het Laatste Nieuws in recent years. 
De Morgen is a Belgian Dutch-language daily newspaper. The newspaper has a left-wing background and initially had a free-spirited and idiosyncratic image, but now presents itself mainly as a quality newspaper. Founded in 1978, the newspaper has had a turbulent history with various owners and was at one point saved by its own readers from bankruptcy. Since 1989 it has been owned by DPG Media.
