Eva Jinek refuses to leave her expensive studio in Amsterdam, even now that major cuts are being made at the public broadcaster. “These are long-term agreements,” said the 47-year-old talk show diva.
The NPO has to make major cuts and all kinds of programs are being sacrificed, including the TV classic Kassa. Eva Jinek thinks the cuts are ridiculous, but according to TV critic Victor Vlam, she is hypocritical: “How many programs could continue to exist if Jinek were to give up her expensive Amsterdam studio? It costs about 2 million per year!”
Amsterdam prestige
How does Eva herself view this? Is she open to going back to Hilversum? “These are long-term agreements,” she says A.D. “We have been instructed to revive the 7 p.m. time. We said in advance that this location would benefit the program.”
She sticks to that. “For the reach of the guests, the artists and the audience, the prestige, etc. And we were right. By the way, have you ever tried to get to Hilversum around six?”
Just like DWDD
De Wereld Draait Door, which used to be shown at Eva’s time, also came from Amsterdam. “Several programs that were later in that time slot were not successful. The NPO thought so too. Was I going to try that? Yes, I believed in it, but I also realized that a lot depended on it for so many people.”
Why did Eva succeed and all those other programs not? “Together we have gained a lot of experience, including in commercial television. We spent four years learning how to reach people. What is a market share? How did we get those young people to come to us? What tone did we adopt? We brought that wealth of experience with us.”