Dagblad van het Noorden

What Dagblad van het Noorden does

Dagblad van het Noorden (DVHN) is a regional daily newspaper serving the Dutch provinces of Groningen and Drenthe, wholly operated as part of the Mediahuis media group out of Groningen, Netherlands. Its core product is a paywalled digital news portal at dvhn.nl covering local politics, sports (FC Groningen, FC Emmen, TT Assen motorsport), crime, weather, culture, and regional economy, complemented by a Digitale Krant digital newspaper platform, a Nieuwsbrieven newsletter suite, and a multi-series podcast hub spanning sports, true crime, and local culture. DVHN layers several adjacent products on top of the news core, including a Puzzel Portal powered by Denksport, a Uitagenda event calendar powered by Uitservice/Vanplan, a Meldpunt reader tip submission portal, the Krantenarchief historical archive via De Krant van Toen, and a DVHN Webshop selling consumer products.

The underlying technology stack is a web-first publishing platform with responsive design, a dedicated digital newspaper viewer at krant.dvhn.nl, a self-service subscriber portal (Mijn DVHN), and third-party integrations for consent management (Didomi), obituary listings (Mensenlinq), puzzle content (Denksport), event aggregation (Uitservice/Vanplan), and product feed management (Channable). No proprietary AI, ML, or automation layers are disclosed; personalization is limited to user-data-based advertising.

DVHN operates a B2C business model with three recurring revenue streams. Digital subscriptions are sold in three tiers — Digitaal Basis at €0.99/week, Digitaal Basis Flex at €1.99/week with monthly cancellation, and Digitaal Extra at €2.49/week with a 1-year commitment that bundles NRC and LC content. Display advertising, including personalized formats, runs on the website and inside the digital newspaper, and a webshop generates transaction and affiliate revenue. The customer base is geographically defined: residents of Groningen and Drenthe plus an extended audience via the Uitagenda's reach into Friesland, with no disclosed enterprise or B2B customer concentration.

Name

Dagblad van het Noorden

Legal name

Dagblad van het Noorden

Website

https://dvhn.nl

Company type

Private

Founded year

2002

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

51–100 employees

Short description

Dagblad van het Noorden is a Mediahuis-owned regional daily newspaper serving the Dutch provinces of Groningen and Drenthe, operating a paywalled digital news portal, digital newspaper, newsletters, podcasts, puzzles, and webshop for Northern Dutch consumers.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Headquarters

HQ city

Groningen

HQ country

Netherlands

HQ region

Europe

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Digital Commerce or Content

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales, Others

Revenue model

1. Digital Subscriptions: Tiered subscription model offering digital access to online articles and digital newspaper with varying levels (Basis, Basis Flex, Extra with additional benefits like NRC and LC articles)
2. Advertising: Display advertising on website and in digital newspaper, including personalized advertisements based on user data
3. Webshop Sales: E-commerce platform selling products through DVHN webshop with affiliate partnerships

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels4 records

Core offering

Dagblad van het Noorden is a regional newspaper publisher that delivers daily digital news coverage of the Groningen and Drenthe provinces through a paywalled website, digital newspaper, email newsletters, and original podcasts. The company sells tiered consumer subscriptions (Digitaal Basis, Digitaal Basis Flex, Digitaal Extra) supplemented by display advertising and an e-commerce webshop selling merchandise and consumer products via affiliate partnerships.

Product overview

Dagblad van het Noorden (DVHN) is a regional newspaper publisher covering the Dutch provinces of Groningen and Drenthe, operated by Mediahuis. The offering is a multi-platform journalism business combining a paywalled digital news site with print and digital subscription products. The core product is the Voorpagina news portal, supplemented by the Digitale Krant digital newspaper, Nieuwsbrieven newsletters, a Podcast hub, the Puzzel Portal powered by Denksport, a DVHN Webshop, an Uitagenda event calendar powered by Uitservice/Vanplan, a Mijn DVHN subscriber service portal, a Meldpunt reader tip submission system, and the Krantenarchief historical newspaper archive. The portfolio spans content subscription, self-service, e-commerce, and community engagement features.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• DVHN: The primary brand name and abbreviation for Dagblad van het Noorden, used across digital platforms and products.

Products and services

• Dagblad van het Noorden Digital News Platform (Voorpagina) Primary digital news platform covering regional news from Groningen and Drenthe including local politics, sports (FC Groningen, FC Emmen, TT Assen), crime, weather, culture, and economy, with a paywall and subscription tiers.
• Digitale Krant (Digital Newspaper) Subscription-based access to the full digital edition of the printed newspaper, accessible via a dedicated portal.
• DVHN Nieuwsbrieven (Newsletters) Curated daily or weekly email newsletters delivering regional news summaries managed through the Mijn DVHN portal.
• DVHN Podcasts Original audio podcasts covering crime (Radio Ramkraak, De Kofferbakmoord, Het Verdwenen Meisje), sports (Radio Milko for FC Groningen, Radio Meerdijk for FC Emmen), culture (Noorderlingendingen), and local stories.
• DVHN Puzzel Portal Interactive puzzle portal (powered by Denksport) offering daily puzzles including word search, Swedish crosswords, Sudoku, jigsaw puzzles, crosswords, and honeycomb puzzles.
• DVHN Webshop E-commerce webshop selling consumer products including electronics (printers), garden equipment, and household items, with affiliate-driven merchandising.
• Uitagenda (Event Calendar) Regional event agenda aggregating local events, markets, festivals, workshops, children's activities, and cultural events across Groningen, Drenthe, and Friesland.
• Mijn DVHN Subscriber Service Portal Subscriber self-service portal for account management, newsletter subscriptions, vacation holds, delivery notifications, and customer support access.
• Meldpunt (News Tip Submission) Tip submission portal allowing readers to anonymously or with contact details submit news tips, witness concerns, or story leads to the DVHN editorial team.
• Digitaal Basis (Basic Subscription Tier) Lowest-tier digital subscription providing basic access to all online articles for individual readers; €0.99 per week with monthly cancellation.
• Digitaal Basis Flex (Flexible Subscription Tier) Mid-tier digital subscription providing full access to all online articles and digital newspaper with monthly cancellation flexibility; €1.99 per week.
• Digitaal Extra (Premium Subscription Tier) Premium digital subscription providing full online articles, digital newspaper, plus bundled access to NRC and LC articles; €2.49 per week on a 1-year commitment.

Segments1 record

Ideal customer profiles1 record

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration3 records

Partnerships

One partnership is on record.

• MediahuiscoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerDVHN is part of Mediahuis, a major Belgian-Dutch media company. Mediahuis operates DVHN as part of their northern Netherlands regional media operations, providing shared technology infrastructure, advertising partnerships, and group-wide content synergies.

Recent moves1 record

Expansion highlights5 records

Broad incumbents

• De Volkskrant: Mediahuis national newspaper sharing the same parent tech stack, paywall, and subscription infrastructure as DVHN, providing benchmarks on national-level ARPU and digital conversion economics.
• NRC Handelsblad: Mediahuis national title whose digital articles are bundled into DVHN's Digitaal Extra subscription tier — useful benchmark for cross-title bundling, premium pricing, and shared subscriber identity across the Mediahuis portfolio.

Direct peers

• Leeuwarder Courant: Direct regional newspaper peer also owned by Mediahuis and serving a Dutch province (Friesland) with a digital subscription model, regional sports coverage, and identical product architecture (digital newspaper, newsletters, podcasts).
• PZC (Provinciale Zeeuwse Courant): DPG Media regional newspaper for Zeeland, operating the same multi-channel regional journalism model (digital subscription, newsletter, podcasts, regional sports) as DVHN.
• De Stentor: DPG Media regional daily newspaper serving Overijssel with the same digital subscription + advertising + newsletter + podcast product mix as DVHN, directly comparable on regional subscription economics.
• Algemeen Dagblad (AD): Closest Dutch regional/national newspaper competitor owned by DPG Media, with a comparable multi-region digital subscription model, regional newscorner structure, and competing for local advertising budgets across the Netherlands.
• Brabants Dagblad: DPG Media regional newspaper for North Brabant, operating a directly comparable regional journalism + digital subscription model with local sports, courts, and event coverage.
• De Limburger: Regional Dutch daily newspaper (owned by Mediahuis) with comparable regional journalism subscription, advertising, and newsletter product structure — same business model, different province.
• Tubantia: DPG Media regional daily for Twente/Achterhoek with substantially the same product architecture as DVHN — paywalled digital news, newsletters, podcasts, regional sports franchise (FC Twente).
• Noordhollands Dagblad: DPG Media regional daily for North Holland with comparable regional news subscription model, multi-channel distribution, and competing for overlapping Dutch regional ad spend.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights5 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/dvhn_nl

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Dagblad van het Noorden