Khalid & Sophie will indeed move to the current time slot of Op1. They just need to adjust the format a bit to better match the latenight feeling, according to BNNVARA.
The AD had a mega scoop yesterday: the newspaper was the first to report that Eva Jinek will definitely get the seven-hour slot of NPO 1, that Khalid & Sophie will therefore move to the late evening and that Op1 will stop completely for that reason. The NPO confirmed everything today, but created confusion about the exact future of Khalid Kasem and Sophie Hilbrand.
Dangling Khalid?
For a moment the two presenters seemed to dangle. An NPO spokesperson reported: “The NPO has asked BNNVARA and the editorial staff of Khalid & Sophie to develop a completely new journalistic program for the late evening (Monday to Thursday) of NPO 1 in autumn 2024.”
Media expert Victor Vlam reacted with bewilderment X: “The fact that the editors have been asked to develop a new program and explicitly not the presenters seems to me to be extremely bad news for Khalid Kasem and Sophie Hilbrand. You generally don’t let them dangle in public if you plan to give them a promotion.”
What does BNNVARA say?
However, according to BNNVARA, Khalid & Sophie will continue as usual in the late evening. “We are pleased that BNNVARA can provide late evening entertainment on NPO 1 all year round from September 2024. Khalid & Sophie will be on show Monday through Thursday evenings for eight months,” say a spokesperson.
“For the remaining four months, other presenters will take care of this time slot. For BNNVARA it is a beautiful place with a very rich history, with previous Pauw & Witteman and Pauw. The viewer will now also get what they can expect from us in the late evening: the talk of the day, with room for music, sports and culture.”
NPO responds
Huh? What does the NPO mean by a ‘completely new programme’? “It is striking that the public broadcaster first spoke of a ‘completely’ new program in the press release, but that wording has now been nuanced on the website,” it reports. A.D.
What a blunder, says Tina Nijkamp. She writes on her analysis channel: “Well, what a lack of communication at the NPO. All very confusing. Ps and what a lot of different press departments there… Bizarre communication.”
No dangling
A spokesperson for the NPO says that Khalid and Sophie will continue as talk show hosts. According to him, the question whether there is a role for them in the new formula does not need to be asked. “I would like to remove that ambiguity: it is certainly their responsibility.”
The changes to the program will be minor, says a spokesperson for BNNVARA NU.nl. “Of course the program will be slightly different. But basically it is a talk show in which the journalistic conversation of the day is conducted, with room for sports, music and culture.”
And what about Friday?
The big question is what will happen to Friday. After all, Khalid & Sophie will only be seen four days a week. Tina has an idea about that: “I think Sven and Thijs can have their political Friday or else I think Özcan Akyol will get his own talk show on Friday.”
Eva will also only be seen four days a week. There is speculation that she will be replaced by Matthijs van Nieuwkerk on Friday.