It is no secret that TV boss Peter van der Vorst hates Today Inside, but someone else has now taken over at RTL 4. Will there be another bid for the VI trio?
Today Inside is still the most influential talk show in the country, with viewing figures that many competitors can only dream of. So you would think that RTL 4 would also be watching with more than average interest, especially now that the contract of Wilfred Genee, René van der Gijp and Johan Derksen at Talpa is slowly heading towards the finish line.
Hard cynicism
However, Peter van der Vorst, until recently the TV boss of RTL, always kept the door closed to the VI trio. “The program does not fit the family channel that we are, because I find VI cynical and often negative. I sometimes enjoy watching VI, but it suits Talpa better because of the tone,” he said in de Volkskrant last year.
The TV boss agreed that Johan Derksen in particular ‘does not fit the positive and inclusive channel that RTL wants to be’. “We prefer to invest in the future, in someone like presenter Renze Klamer. We want to radiate optimism and tell a positive story. You can still make sharp jokes, but without outright cynicism.”
New Peter
How does the flag hang now that Peter van der Vorst is out and has been succeeded by Peter Lubbers? He was in charge of men’s channel RTL 7 when the men of VI were still visible there.
Wilfred Genee certainly seems open to it. He recently said in VI: “Just to be clear, Job, we would have loved to stay at RTL. We were in a very good position there, we had nothing to complain about, but then they came up with an offer that really makes you say: yes, come on, it is so successful!”
Empty building
RTL’s salary proposal was too meager, according to Wilfred. “They kept shouting: ‘The ratings are going down, the market shares are wrong, this is good.’ And just before we left we suddenly received an offer that was even higher than this, you know, but by then it was too late of course.”
Johan Derksen: “When it was too late… We sat here in an empty building with John de Mol in the evening, agreed and the next day that great director from Luxembourg came in.”
Wilfred: “That was a week later, yes.”
Blank contract
Johan still remembers it well. “That was after the broadcast on Friday.”
Wilfred: “No, I remember that was on a Monday. Monday evening. Then suddenly there were two big directors.”
Johan: “And then he actually had a blank contract, like: ‘Just fill it in.’”
Job Knoester: “And then it was too late?”
Johan: “Yes, if you say yes, you will no longer agree with the next person. But we did want to stay with RTL. So it is not the case that we agreed to that, saying: ‘We are leaving!’”
Be sweet
Job thinks that it is ultimately better that the VI trio ended up at Talpa. “I don’t think you fit in with the whole ‘be sweet’ and the situations that Peter van der Vorst has put forward. That would not have been appropriate.”
Wilfred: “No.”
Johan: “No, but it was better before that, because then the director was our man.”
He is referring to Marco Louwerens, who succeeded Peter Lubbers as channel manager of RTL 7 in 2011. But the gentlemen also had an excellent bond with Peter. “I always thought he was one of the nicest people around,” Johan said recently.
RTL transfer?
So the big question is: will Peter Lubbers try to bring the men from VI to RTL 4 to get the late evening out of the doldrums? Or will they fully focus on Renze Klamer, who clearly has more prospects for the future?
Wilfred says matter-of-factly: “To be clear: we are in a really good place. Nothing wrong with that.”