What is De Telegraaf?
De Telegraaf is a Dutch daily newspaper. Its publisher, Mediahuis Nederland, lists it first among its brands: «met onze bekende merken als De Telegraaf, VROUW, Privé, GroupDeal, NSMBL en Dumpert bereiken we een brede selectie doelgroepen in heel Nederland», alongside regional titles including De Limburger, Dagblad van het Noorden, Noordhollands Dagblad and Haarlems Dagblad. The same corporate page gives group figures of 35 news brands, 6,000 employees and operations in six countries.[1]
Mediahuis describes the title in its own words as «één van de belangrijkste mediamerken van Nederland. Een instituut in het medialandschap», and states that «De Telegraaf heeft het grootste bereik van alle dagbladen en staat in contact met ruim 50% van de Nederlandse bevolking». Those are the publisher's characterisations of its own title.[2]
Its sport sits on a path of telegraaf.nl rather than in a separate publication: Telesport is a section of the title, and telegraaf.nl is the domain given for the outlet.[2]
What does De Telegraaf cover?
Mediahuis names four sections of the brand. Telesport carries the sport, and the publisher lists its subjects as voetbal, motorsport, schaatsen, tennis and darts. DFT, De Financiële Telegraaf, «biedt al het nieuws over geld en economie». VROUW is described as having «een sterke band met de Nederlandse vrouw». Familieberichten carries death notices and announcements.[2]
Sport is therefore a named standing section of the title rather than an occasional subject, and the sports the publisher names for it — football, motorsport, skating, tennis and darts — are the publisher's own list, not a count of published items.[2]
How large is De Telegraaf's readership?
The audited currency for Dutch print is NMO Lezen and the Print & Merken Monitor run by the Nationaal Media Onderzoek, which states that it «biedt inzicht in wat Nederland via alle media, platforms en devices leest, luistert en kijkt» and that it «is geïnitieerd en wordt gefinancierd door commerciële en publieke mediaorganisaties, mediabureaus en adverteerders».[6]
On that currency, NDP Nieuwsmedia reported on 13 August 2026 that the Print & Merken Monitor 2026-II, covering the period from the second quarter of 2025 to the first quarter of 2026, gives De Telegraaf an average daily edition reach of 621,000 readers, with AD at 811,000, de Volkskrant at 577,000 and NRC at 356,000.[3] Marketing Report, reporting the same study on the same day, gives the total for all Dutch dailies as «gemiddeld 4,017 miljoen lezers van 13 jaar en ouder», down 2.6 per cent, and describes the measure as the combined net reach of printed editions and their digital replicas, which NMO calls the «gemiddeld editiebereik».[4]
The publisher publishes a different and larger figure on a different basis. Mediahuis reported on 6 March 2025, citing NMO NPMM 2024-III, that «het merk bereikt ruim 6,4 miljoen Nederlanders» and that 5.2 million readers a month use the website and app, with 10 per cent of readers using the digital replica.[5] Brand reach across all platforms and average daily edition reach are not the same measure. Traffic estimators are not audited measurement.
Since when has De Telegraaf existed?
No founding date for De Telegraaf could be retrieved. Mediahuis Nederland's brand page for the title carries no founding year, and its corporate about page carries neither founding dates for its individual titles nor a date for its acquisition of the title's previous publisher.[1][2] A newspaper archive record that might have carried a first-issue date could not be fetched.
What can be dated is the measurement. The figures on this page come from two editions of the same NMO study: the Print & Merken Monitor 2024-III, reported by the publisher on 6 March 2025,[5] and the Print & Merken Monitor 2026-II, covering the second quarter of 2025 to the first quarter of 2026 and reported on 13 August 2026.[3][4]
A publication date, a measurement period and a publisher's acquisition date are three different dates, and only the first two could be established for this title.
Why does De Telegraaf matter in Dutch sport?
On the measured currency, the Print & Merken Monitor 2026-II gives the title an average daily edition reach of 621,000 readers, against 811,000 for AD, 577,000 for de Volkskrant and 356,000 for NRC, out of a total of 4.017 million for all Dutch dailies together.[3][4]
Sport is one of four named sections of that title, and the subjects the publisher lists for Telesport — football, motorsport, skating, tennis and darts — correspond closely to the sports in which Dutch results recur: football through the Eredivisie, and skating through the long-track programme to which Olympedia's Netherlands entry credits 146 Olympic medals. See the Netherlands and speed skating.[2]
Its publisher's own reach claim and the audited edition figure point in different directions because they measure different things, each on the basis stated with it.
References
- Mediahuis Nederland — Over ons: the brands it publishes and group figures. Accessed 2026-09-20.
- Mediahuis Nederland — De Telegraaf brand page: self-description, the sections Telesport, DFT, VROUW and Familieberichten, and undated reach claims. Accessed 2026-09-20.
- NDP Nieuwsmedia — Ruim 4 miljoen dagelijkse lezers Nederlandse dagbladen, 13 August 2026, reporting NMO Print & Merken Monitor 2026-II. Accessed 2026-09-20.
- Marketing Report — NMO: Dagelijks bereik dagbladen licht gedaald naar 4 miljoen lezers, 13 August 2026. Accessed 2026-09-20.
- Mediahuis — De Telegraaf bereikt meer lezers dankzij digitale editie, 6 March 2025, citing NMO NPMM 2024-III. Accessed 2026-09-20.
- Nationaal Media Onderzoek — home page: what NMO measures and who initiates and finances it. Accessed 2026-09-20.