Genre | Popular music; Listener determined mix including Classic rock, Mainstream rock, Hip Hop, Jazz standards, Hot adult contemporary, Rhythmic adult contemporary, Dance pop, Dance |
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Running time | 7 days (168 hours; 25 December midnight - 31 December midnight) for 24 hours a day, only interrupted by short hourly news bulletins and commercials |
Country of origin | Netherlands |
Language(s) | Dutch |
Home station | NPO Radio 2 (broadcast by NTR) |
TV adaptations | Top 2000 a Gogo |
Hosted by | Various, multiple per edition |
Created by | Kees Toering |
Recording studio | Netherlands Institute for Sound and Vision, Hilversum |
Original release | 26 December 1999 |
No. of episodes | 25 |
Audio format | FM, cable, satellite, DAB, DTT and internet |
Opening theme | A remix of Tommy Overture (The Who) |
Website | NPO Radio 2 - Top 2000 |
Podcast | NPO Radio 2 player |
The Top 2000 is an annual Dutch marathon radio programme that plays the 2,000 most popular songs listeners have deemed the best of all time. The show runs 24 hours a day, starting Christmas and ending on New Year's Eve, functioning as a countdown to the new year.[1][2] The show is hosted by national public radio station NPO Radio 2. A significant part of the population of the Netherlands listens to the broadcast each year;[3][4] during the 2019 edition, NPO Radio 2 had a national radio market share of 17.7 percent.[5][6] In regard of its popularity and notoriety, the show is often called de lijst der lijsten, the chart of charts.[7]
The Top 2000, first held in 1999 to inaugurate the new millennium, was intended to be a one-time event. It became immensely popular. Following this success, Radio 2 decided to make it an annual programme.
The broadcast initially started at midnight on the day after Christmas (Dutch: Tweede Kerstdag, also known as Boxing Day). From 2009 onwards, the show begins broadcasting on 25 December, Christmas Day.[8] From 2009 to 2015, the show started at noon. From 2015 to 2018 the show started at 9:00, with 2019 starting at 8:00 in the morning and 2020 starting right after midnight. It continues until midnight of New Year's Eve.
The show is hosted in a temporary studio called the Top 2000 Café at the Netherlands Institute of Sound and Vision in Hilversum. Visitors are able to purchase a timed ticket to enter the studio. Because of the popularity of the show and the small size of the studio, visitors are only allowed to stay for a limited period of time.[9] The tickets have been known to sell out quickly.[10]