RTL 4 is throwing tons of money into the battle to save RTL Tonight from destruction: during this first Lubach-free week, quite a few commercial breaks have been released again. “Tears in the eyes.”
How long does Peter van der Vorst want to flog the dead horse RTL Tonight? The TV boss of RTL 4 seems to believe that perseverance will win, but the outside world mainly sees a rigid bobo who does not want to admit he is wrong. From the canal belt, Peter thinks that the country likes this television, but hardly anyone zaps to it.
Dramatic score
RTL Tonight now has a few Lubach-free months, which means the program starts much earlier and therefore has less to compete with bedtime. To take full advantage of this, the channel management has again released the commercial breaks prior to the program. That is very expensive, but it has little effect.
Tina Nijkamp, our country’s ratings authority, shares the scores. She says in her podcast Tina’s TV Update: “A dramatic score. Only 348 thousand viewers. Then you might think: oh, but they were also in the 280 sometimes? That’s right, only Lubach was ahead at the time and they still suffered from a late start.”
Tears in eyes
That kite no longer flies, says Tina. “They just start at ten o’clock and if you only score 348 thousand viewers, that is very little. A dramatic score. 12.4 even in the target group. I have to be honest: if I were to work at RTL now, I would really have tears in my eyes, because how is this going to work out?”
He continues: “They have also taken out the commercial breaks again and that means that they have done everything they can to make a fresh, new start this week and that now seems to have failed completely. They did not have a good score on Monday either, then 415, but now 348 and that is completely dramatic.”
‘To cry’
Peter really made such a huge mistake, says Tina. “If you consider that their talk show previously scored 550, 600 thousand viewers, you can only cry. That is actually the conclusion. What should they do? The table back, the talk show name back with the names of the gentlemen and then Leonie on Sunday.”
She continues: “Just do that, because this really won’t work anymore. That desk also looks so distant. It really is that setting, because if there were a table, there would be 100,000 more viewers anyway.”
Expensive blocks
Finally, what does Peter’s decision to cut out all those commercial breaks cost again? About 60 to 70 thousand euros per day (!), says Tina, who has been at the helm of SBS 6 for years. “And then THIS. Not even football in return. This hurts a lot there. Tip for producers: don’t call Peter van der Vorst today if you want to sell something.”
Can Peter just decide to take out those blocks every time? “Yes, that is possible in consultation with the financial director. So it does cost a lot of money. Tons per week.”
Record figures
Painfully enough, the competing talk shows Eva and Today Inside record record after record, which only makes it more difficult for RTL Tonight to score relevant guests. “Today Inside records 1.025 million viewers and a mega 29.8 percent in 25 to 54 years. Well!!!! That is again a viewing figure record in the target group.”
And what about Eva? “She is having a top season and records figures above a million almost every day. Very good. And also higher than last year: 1.017 million viewers and 21 percent. Pauw & De Wit records a neat 642 thousand viewers (17 percent) and Tijd voor MAX has 575 thousand viewers (20 percent).”