Despite the persistent criticism, RTL 4 continues to hold on to the mega-long broadcasting time of its TV programmes. Why? “They pump up sales for a quick sale.”
It surprises friend and foe: RTL 4 is running the corona emergency measure to stretch all programs extremely, but not back. What is the reason? Kirsten Jan van Nieuwenhuijzen, who once started his career as one of the first four creatives by John de Mol, states in his podcast Content Wars that it is clear what is going on here.
“An hour and a half is too long”
RTL 4 broadcast two programs at prime time every working day until the corona period: one from 8.30 pm to 9.30 pm, and one from 9.30 pm to 10.30 pm. Then the late talk show started. Due to cost savings, one program was chosen during the corona period from 8.30 pm to 10 pm and then Eva Jinek from 10 pm until as long as she can last.
After the pandemic, RTL 4 stuck to it – saves a lot of money – but the viewer now seems to be slowly dropping out. Eva Jinek in particular has fallen victim to it. “You can see that things have slowed down a bit in recent months,” says Kirsten Jan. “You just see people dropping out. A lot of programs really feel too long for an hour and a half.”
Inflate for sale
If RTL sees that it is now starting to score worse, why do they still hold on to it? “I think personally, but that’s purely one gut feeling, that they are inflating sales for sales. So in the end I think that RTL will just be sold within now and a few years… Well, I think shorter, within now and two years.”
He continues: “Yes, I somehow suspect that, because otherwise I don’t understand why they don’t go back to two formats. Because the second problem they have now is that the late night show is also way too long. (…) That is why VI is such a success: it starts at 9.30 pm, just when many viewers at RTL think: pff, I want something different.”
Like a boomerang
Podcast presenter Jelle Maasbach thinks it’s strange. “Isn’t that going to come back like a boomerang in your face if you stick to those long programs? Then viewers drop out and that is also bad for the channel, isn’t it? Then it’s better to go back to the old way, right?”
Kirsten-Jan: “In the longer term, I think so too. And you already notice that SBS scores better on some days than a year ago, so they just benefit from that. So that’s why my idea is that maybe that sale will happen sooner than we think. I’m not basing this on anything. That is purely a kind of gut feeling.”
No other explanation
There is almost no other explanation, says Kirsten-Jan. “They must also notice that there is criticism of that, of the longer duration of those programmes. Why don’t they go back? Well, that’s a financial issue. It’s just more expensive to put another program in between. So they consciously choose it.”
He concludes: “They had a very good turnover last year, RTL 4. I suspect that it will happen again this year, 2023, that they will have a good turnover. Well, why is it… I personally think a sale is coming.”