Art Rooijakkers does not agree with the plea from Tina Nijkamp, among others, to lift the secrecy of the linear viewing figures. “I think it’s a bit of a whining actually.”
It was common practice for years: every morning just after 7:30 am the viewing figures from the night before were published. The TV channels have now put a stop to that. Since this TV season, the scores are only published after a week (!), when they can add all postponed viewers, to make everything seem a bit more flourishing.
‘A very good idea’
Tina Nijkamp thinks keeping the linear figures secret is ridiculous. After all, until this season, both the linear and the delayed viewing figures were published, so according to her it is purely an attempt to control the reporting of television flops. In other words: a form of censorship.
Art Rooijakkers does not agree with that. “Previously they were announced a day later and now only after a week, because so much of the viewing is postponed. A very good idea,” he says in the podcast Ramin talking to.
‘This and that’
Art thinks the criticism from experts like Tina makes no sense. “People are now making a bit of a fuss about it: yes, it should be public and it should be public and this and that. But it still is. The only thing is that it only comes a week later and then you get a much better idea of those viewing figures.”
He doesn’t understand what exactly that woman is concerned about. “I think it’s a bit of a hassle to be honest. A bit of bullshit. Who’s working on it?”
Soccer competition
It’s wonderful that show media now have a lot less ammunition, says Art. “I also found, to be honest, that it is also a very easy way to create content for all kinds of sites or newspaper sites. ‘Yesterday this program scored that’, as if it were a football competition.”
He was terribly annoyed by that. “Then my parents would say: ‘Well, we didn’t watch that program very well yesterday, did we?’ Not even about my program. Then I said, ‘Have you seen it?’ ‘Yes.’ I said: ‘Did you like the programme?’ Yes, she actually liked it. ‘What difference does it make to you how many people are watching?’”
‘What does it matter?’
Art is clearly very concerned. “It is important for the channel, for the advertisers, but not for the viewer himself, right? What does it matter? I think it’s a bit of a whining.”
If it doesn’t matter, you can just publish them, right? Or does Art simply find it annoying when the media write the next day that his program was so poorly viewed? Probably the latter.
Özcan critical
Özcan Akyol, presenter of various programs on NPO 2, thinks it is a loss that the viewing figures are no longer published immediately. “Both makers and consumers have no idea what is currently scoring well. We have to wait for a total number that will come a week later,” he writes A.D.
Then according to him it is already too late. “As a result, the urgency and competition of television have been diluted.”