Bridget Maasland advises Sven Kockelmann to change course at the Friday Op1. “I then think: is anyone really looking forward to that on a Friday evening? You want fun, right?”
The late talk shows of NPO 1 and RTL 4 are having a bad time: only one talk show is really well watched in the Netherlands and that is the SBS 6 hit Today Inside. Why are Op1 and Beau/Humberto/Renze so poorly viewed compared to Wilfred Genee’s show? There is not enough atmosphere, they say RTL Boulevard.
‘Stop it, Sven!’
Bridget Maasland thinks that Op1 has completely misunderstood. “Op1 also tries to do everything to attract the viewer, but that doesn’t really work. They have now sent Sven Kockelmann in a more political direction for Thursday and Friday evenings,” she tells the desk.
What a wrong choice, according to the presenter. “I then think: is anyone really looking forward to that on a Friday evening? Then you always want a little lightness, right? Fun?”
Huge break
Op1 is lagging enormously, according to colleague Rob Goossens. “It is a huge break from what they tried before with Paul de Leeuw, by making a lighter Op1 on Friday evening. That failed miserably. They don’t want to be reminded of it anymore. So now they have gone into depth.”
However, Friday is not suitable for that, Rob thinks. “The quality is also variable: there was a very colored, poor broadcast on Friday about what is going on in Israel. At the same time, I feel that they are looking after the store there until the plug is pulled, because Op1 already knows that they will no longer exist after the summer.”
Looking at atmosphere
What does Rob think the talk shows of NPO 1 and RTL 4 can learn from Today Inside? “What they should certainly look at carefully is the atmosphere. You certainly see the RTL talk shows trying to copy that. If you just have three people that you know will be fun anyway…”
He concludes: “You get that living room feeling that people are apparently looking for at home at that moment. I think that RTL has already taken steps in this regard, but Op1 simply misses that.”