NPO 3FM plays the latest pop and top 40 hits, mixing international chart music with Dutch artists, live from the Netherlands. You can stream it live and free right now on Radio Shuffle, wherever you are in the world.
Dutch Public Radio's Answer to the Pirates
NPO 3FM began on October 11, 1965, as Hilversum 3, a public broadcaster's reply to popular offshore pirate stations such as Radio Veronica, according to Wikipedia's history of NPO 3FM. It used vertical programming, with a different public broadcaster taking over each day, which made the schedule unpredictable in a way that appealed to young listeners. It became Radio 3 in 1985, Radio 3FM in 1994 when it reached full national FM coverage, and NPO 3FM in 2014.
The Glass House
3FM's biggest claim to fame is Serious Request. Launched in 2004, three DJs are locked into a glass studio on a city square for six days without eating, raising money for Red Cross projects. The first edition featured Giel Beelen, Wouter van der Goes and Claudia de Breij in Utrecht, and the initial appeal raised more than 915,000 euros, as Wikipedia's entry on Serious Request recounts. The event was born out of a wish to do something other than the usual Christmas carols, and it moved to a new Dutch city each year until the Glass House was dropped in 2018.
A Format Built on Change
On January 4, 1992, the station moved to a horizontal format as commercial radio grew and competition increased. Since then it has tried several overhauls, and DJs including Giel Beelen, Coen Swijnenberg and Gerard Ekdom moved on between 2014 and 2018. Whatever the schedule, 3FM keeps its identity as the public broadcaster's music-led youth station, and it hands out the annual 3FM Awards, voted by listeners, to Dutch musicians.
Tune In
From a 1965 answer to the pirates to a glass box on a snowy square, 3FM has been part of Dutch pop culture for six decades. Stream NPO 3FM free on Radio Shuffle to hear it live.