After BnnVara’s Kassa and EO’s Rail Away, another TV classic will disappear from the air, namely VPRO’s Zomergasten. The reason? High costs and low viewing figures, says Tina Nijkamp.
The NPO receives one billion (!) euros in taxpayers’ money per year and therefore has a multiple of what RTL and Talpa have to spend together. Yet they are on their hind legs now that politics is in the grip of public broadcasting and some cuts have to be made. Every few days they now reveal which programs ‘must’ be removed.
End of Summer Guests
The VPRO now confirms that Zomergasten after 37 years disappears from the tubejust like the radio program Vrije Geluiden. “We will say goodbye to both iconic VPRO titles that have acquired a loyal following of viewers and listeners in 37 years and 24 years respectively.”
TV authority Tina Nijkamp is not surprised. “We have been struggling with sharply declining viewing figures for a few years now. Sometimes 200,000 viewers are barely achieved,” she writes on her analysis channel.
‘The curtain falls’
Zomergasten has been on the air since 1988. “Peter van Ingen was the first presenter. Adriaan van Dis, Janine Abbring, Thomas Erdbrink, Hanneke Groenteman, Margriet van der Linden, among others, presented the show. Griet op de Beeck was the last presenter,” says Tina.
According to Tina, the high costs are not in proportion to the number of viewers. “How expensive was Zomergasten per episode? Probably around 150,000-200,000 euros per episode.”