The episode of the Taxi Castricum program with guest Femke Halsema caused a record number of zappers, but who is that because of? “By Rutger Castricum!”
Taxi Castricum, the program in which Rutger Castricum interviews well-known Dutch people while driving him or her to a destination, attracted only 375 thousand viewers the day before yesterday. That is remarkable, because it is on NPO 1 and also immediately after the viewing figure hit De Rijdende Rechter. No fewer than 1.2 million people watched it.
‘Depends on Rutger!’
If so many people zap away, then of course you are doing something wrong. In fact, with 825 thousand zappers, this is even the most zapped program of 2023 so far, according to viewing figure expert Tina Nijkamp. But who is that actually because of? Are people not interested in Femke Halsema or is something else going on?
According to VPRO star Tim den Besten, it is clear who is responsible for this. He just doesn’t find the presenter on duty credible. “I don’t think it’s due to Femke Halsema, but to Rutger himself. He has terrorized the neighborhood for years and now he is playing a bit of Rik Felderhofje with his combed hair,” he says on his channel.
More often critical
Rutger often receives this criticism from people. They find it difficult to reconcile that someone who always pretended to be so cheeky has suddenly become so good. According to media expert Victor Vlam, this is because Rutger is preparing for a broad talk show at the public broadcaster, on behalf of his own employer PowNed.
“I was watching Rutger and I thought: yes, that used to be the cheeky reporter, but now it is the good family man with four children, extremely well-styled suits, expensive suits too, and had a hair transplant,” says the opinion maker. “It’s a bit salty.”
Through the city
Incidentally, Femke told Rutger that she would rather take the bicycle than the taxi. “Amsterdam comes with noise. There is also a lot of niceness, so I just cycle through the city. Occasionally I have guidance and then someone cycles on an old-fashioned men’s bicycle at an appropriate distance behind me.”
What about the threats against her? “I am sometimes bothered by threats. A while ago after the celebration of Ajax at the Museumplein could not take place, I received quite a lot of threats. Then I decided to talk to the worst.”
No fear
How did it go? “About four or five. And the moment you sit across from them, they’re all sorry and they’re all really sorry for what they’ve done. These kinds of threats do not cause me a sense of fear.”
Finally: what does the mayor of Amsterdam think is a flaw in her own city? “One of the things that people really hate about Amsterdam – and I understand that – is that there is always a kind of self-congratulation among Amsterdammers. Oh, how happy we are together. That’s unpleasant. I find that very unpleasant myself.”