Arjen Lubach will be quite nervous about the arrival of the Meilandjes. RTL was slowly becoming VPRO-light, wasn’t it? “They will soon be programmed one after the other!”
It is no secret that RTL has become quite woke and left-progressive under the leadership of the outgoing boss Peter van der Vorst. The arrival of VPRO hero Arjen Lubach was part of that course. The problem, however, is that he is not a match for the RTL audience. He is a disruptor between the prime-time block and the late-night block.
Volkser RTL
The Flemish media giant DPG Media is less interested in all that woke talk and just wants to make money. Big choices are being made: the Meilandjes have been contracted for no less than three years and RTL Tonight has been cancelled. The woke host Beau van Erven Dorens (‘exchange Christmas for Eid-al-Fitr!’) makes way for the more moderate Renze Klamer.
TV critic Victor Vlam has a strong feeling that RTL wants to win back the people. “I think they are also somewhat encouraged by the success of Gerard Joling’s real-life soap. That is also a bit popular and suits SBS better, but scores well with RTL,” he says in the latest episode of his podcast Victor Indicates TV.
Outspoken PVV
Until recently, no one would have suspected that the Meilandjes could gain a foothold at RTL. “Erica Meiland is an outspoken PVV supporter. That doesn’t seem to match at all. You have to imagine that the Meilandjes get the slot from half past eight to ten, and Lubach starts at ten o’clock… Yes, that’s not the same blood group at all, is it?”
He continues: “There are very few viewers who watch both the Meilandjes and Lubach, so if you go for the see-through effect, that is very bad. Normally as a broadcaster you have a certain profile in mind and for Lubach and the Meilandjes the profile is completely different.”
Arjen out?
That raises the question: what does Arjen’s future look like? If RTL 4 wants to reach the general masses with the Meilandjes at half past eight and Renze has to win back the late-night viewer at half past eleven, then Arjen with his progressive fifteen minutes is a very disturbing interruption. Will he be bought off or demoted to Videoland? It could be.
Yet the TV comeback of the Meilandjes still has to succeed. They have suffered image damage by pretending to be done with television. “I want to grow strawberries with the grandchildren. There is nothing for that on TV,” Martien said recently.
Not sincere
Well, that turned out to be for the stage. “It now turns out that this is a little less sincere than we had to think at the time. In fact, it gives the impression that it is a negotiating tactic,” says Victor. “Making a grand announcement that you are going to stop Chateau Meiland is also a way to make it clear to other parties: look, we are available.”
“I think it is clumsy to approach it that way, because it is also a bit transparent, right? If it turns out to be wrong, people still feel a bit cheated…”
