The Dutch public broadcaster that ran the 1969 TV-tax scanner April Fools' hoax was NTS.
On April 1, 1969, the Nederlandse Televisie Stichting (NTS) announced that inspectors would patrol Dutch streets with remote scanners. The supposed devices would detect homes whose residents had not paid the radio and television licence fee, known in Dutch as kijk- en luistergeld or omroepbijdrage. The story exploited a real tax and a real concern about “black viewers,” or licence evaders.
The prank added a seemingly practical solution: wrapping a television or radio in aluminium foil would block the scanner. That detail made the fictional technology sound plausible, and aluminium foil reportedly sold out in shops within hours. The hoax also prompted people to pay outstanding broadcasting fees, giving the joke an unexpectedly effective financial consequence.
A common mix-up is NOS, the broadcaster that succeeded NTS later in 1969. NTS was the organisation associated with this April Fools' broadcast; it merged with the Netherlands Radio Union to form NOS on May 29, 1969. AVRO and VARA were member broadcasting associations, not the broadcaster credited with the scanner hoax.