VRT's VHS collection
In 2012, after a European tendering process, we began the digitisation of VRT's VHS collection. More than 46,000 VHS cassettes containing more than 161,000 hours of viewing pleasure were digitised.
Half of the total cost was borne by meemoo, in accordance with the approved cooperation agreement. Between October 2011 and July 2015, we digitised 46,045 VHS carriers, which were part of the compliance recording collection recorded between 1987 and 2005.
The collection contains the permanent recording of television channels’ antenna signal, which was legally obliged during that period. This was necessary in order to respond to complaints from viewers invoking ‘the right of reply’. Although it was only compulsory to keep the recordings for three months, VRT decided to keep them all and digitise them. The recordings turned out to be a fascinating source of image material that would otherwise not have ended up in the archives. Since 2005, compliance recording has taken place digitally.
The French company Vectracom was selected through a European tendering process, issued by VRT in 2011. The digitisation took place in Rabat (Morocco). Vectracom later digitised the open reel videos in our second digitisation project.