Rivierenland, the "river country" stretched between the Rhine, Waal and Lek in the Dutch province of Gelderland, isn't the kind of place that gets national attention often. It's a patchwork of fruit orchards, dikes and small towns, and for more than four decades one broadcaster has made it its entire job to cover it. SRC, based in Culemborg, has been on air since 1983, serving Buren, Culemborg, Neder-Betuwe, Tiel, Vijfheerenlanden and West Betuwe as the region's dedicated streekomroep, or regional broadcaster.
Six Municipalities, One Signal
SRC's coverage area spans a cluster of municipalities that most outsiders would struggle to place on a map, but the station treats that as its core purpose rather than a limitation. Its FM frequencies shift depending on where you're standing, 105.8 in Culemborg, 105.5 in Tiel, 106.2 in West Betuwe, 106.4 across Buren Oost and Neder-Betuwe, and 95.6 in Vijfheerenlanden, a footprint built entirely around making sure no corner of Rivierenland is left without a local signal.
Half the Playlist, By Design
Rather than default to an international top-40 format like much of Dutch commercial radio, SRC guarantees Dutch-language music in roughly half of every hour's rotation. It's a deliberate choice that ties the station's identity to homegrown pop as much as to the towns it covers, reinforced by dedicated programming like De Oranje Top 30, a weekly countdown built entirely around Dutch-language hits.
News First, From the Ground Up
SRC's daily backbone is Goedenavond Rivierenland, an evening program mixing regional news and current affairs with music, alongside sports coverage through Regiosport and investigative segments like Achter het Besluit, which digs into local council decisions rather than just reporting outcomes. That combination of civic accountability journalism and community-facing entertainment is what separates a streekomroep like SRC from a purely music-driven commercial station.
Not Just Radio
SRC runs television and online coverage alongside its FM signal, publishing an events calendar, cinema schedules and municipal announcements as part of the same operation. For a region without its own major newspaper or broadcaster competing for attention, that multi-platform reach lets SRC function as the closest thing Rivierenland has to a single, trusted local media hub.
A Region That Still Wants Local Radio
Forty years after its first broadcast, SRC still describes itself as the number one radio station in its region, a claim that holds up precisely because there's no larger outlet doing the same hyperlocal job across six municipalities at once. In an era when local newsrooms are shrinking almost everywhere, SRC's continued run from a small studio in Culemborg is a quiet argument for why regional radio still matters.