Sam Hagens left SBS 6 because he was passed over for the presentation of News of the Day, says Victor Vlam. “But he would have been a better choice than Art Rooijakkers!”
Sam Hagens’ move to public broadcasting was quite a surprise. He became known as the political interpreter of Today Inside, but has already indicated that he has presentation ambitions for some time. However, he was unable to achieve this at Talpa, after which he opted for a switch to WNL, where he now presents Goedemorgen Nederland.
Passed Sam
Media critic Victor Vlam thinks that Sam left because he was passed over for the presentation of News of the Day, which is alternately presented by Art Rooijakkers and Malou Petter. “I also think that at SBS 6 they may have a little regret, because Sam Hagens – knowing this – would of course have been the better presenter.”
He continues in the podcast The Communicados: “Sam left SBS 6 because he did not get any opportunities to present there. If you look back now, it is very likely that he was rejected from this program.”
“I’m leaving!”
Victor points to the timeline. “The program was announced at the end of August, at the beginning of October it was announced that Art was leaving RTL and at the end of November Sam announced that he was switching to WNL. This means that he probably presented himself as the presenter of that program, that they did not see him as a presenter at SBS and that he then thought: I am leaving.”
It is not entirely unthinkable. It is striking that last week in Good Morning Netherlands, Sam, rubbing his hands, noted to his guest Angela de Jong that the viewing figures of Nieuws van de Dag were already declining. He was then reprimanded by his colleague Lisette Wellens.
Better presenter
Anyway: Victor thinks that SBS 6 could have been better for Sam. “In retrospect, I think he would have been a much better presenter. Not because he can technically present better. Art has a lot of presentation experience and indeed a lot of journalistic experience. I think he might be technically quite a lot better.”
“But when it comes to who is better with the supporters, yes, that is where Sam really scores much better. He is someone who, simply because of his performances in Today Inside and also his critical corona press conferences, where he asked really good questions… He is much better suited to the supporters of that program.”